Fate Gave Three
by Areine
Summary: They lost the final battle with Naraku, but Fate was not done with Inuyasha nor Kagome. Years later their souls have been reborn, and Fate will not let them be so blind with each other this time... for this is their last chance.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.... um.. yeah.

Okay okay okay... So.. FINALLY I've got this story started.. And, as I said, this was basically started because I need time to organize everything for my other story, "Through the White Eyes" (the story line needs to be straightened out on how fast I get things explained. Its confusing me... bwuaha). That does _not_ mean, however, that this story is less important, because I've realized this one was almost as confusing as the other.. Anyway.. But I already have this one sorted out and the first two or three chapters all planned and ready, so I hope you guys enjoy ^_^ *cough*read_and_r_eview_!!!*cough*

*clears throat*

And so... without further adue... (or however 'adue' is spelled)...

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Fate Gave Three

By Areine

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Chapter 1: Prologue

Kagome was crying. She had no idea how long the tears had been coming, and, in truth, still had not realized that there were tears pouring from her eyes. She was finding it hard to breathe, there were great winds all around her, carrying the scent of blood and death that even a human nose could pick up. Her lungs gasped for air sparingly, and her throat quivered with the amount of sadness suddenly overwhelming her. She was ignoring everything around her, lost in that sadness and helpless to regain her senses. 

In her hands she clutched a red coat. The robe of the fire rat. She was tense and resting on her weak knees as her knuckles strained with the tension in them, the robe was in a death grip. She would not let it go. It was Inuyasha. She would not admit it, but in the pit of her stomach, of her heart, she knew he was dieing. In this final battle with Naraku... The Shikon no Tama was complete, and in his hands... It was true, what people had told her. Whoever got themselves involved with such a cursed object found tragedy in their lives. 

She was ignoring the great demon around her, completely oblivious to everything except for the hanyou scrawled on the ground. Blood was everywhere, all over Kagome, but she didn't care. 

She opened her mouth, to speak, but choked on her words as more tears came. "In-Inuyasha..." She cried out meekly, her voice strained and hoarse as she sought for speech. Something that had come to her so easily before was suddenly evading her purposes. She stopped immediately however when she saw in Inuyasha's face his muscles contract in pain, his ears, also covered in blood, flinched as they slowly fanned out in her direction. His left eye was swollen shut, but his right cracked open slightly, revealing the amber eye Kagome had grown so used to. In it his cat-like pupil dilated when it focused her, and she could see his mouth open slightly.

"Don't! Don't talk! Hang ON Inuyasha! We can get the Shikon no Tama, and it will heal you! This is NOT over YET!" She cried out, her voice rasping and cracking with the emotions she was suddenly feeling. There was no longer a "we can". She knew that. Their companions were gone. Even now, anyone who turned their head even the slightest would see the great crater that took over the side of one whole mountain. Miroku had sacrificed himself in this final battle with Naraku. The Kazanna, the cursed wind tunnel in his hand, inherited from his father, had finally ripped open to consume even him as he took in the vast armies of youkai sent upon them by Naraku. Sango had gone into that void with him... Her friend... And Shippo. He had been killed, separated from each other so easily he had not been able to fight back...

Her hands clenched tighter, and she could feel her nails scraping against her own skin, slowly peeling it back as she struggled to keep herself together. But how could she? Everyone was dieing in front of her... _'NO! Not everyone! Inuyasha is going to live!'_

"Ka-Kagome..." The voice was faint and almost brittle sounding. Inuyasha was staring at her, the pain obvious in his face. His lips were cracked and blood lined the edges as they moved lightly with his speech. "I'm... sorry..." That last word slipped from his mouth with a lisp before he winced again, but his gaze never left the girl's returning one hovering above him.

'Inu... Inuyasha...' Her eyes widened, her fear and sorrow turning into anger. "Inuyasha! STOP IT! This is not the end! Not for you it isn't!" Her heart was beating fast, she could feel a fever rising in her face as her body began to shake. 

"Kagome. Th--thank you..." He paused, his amber eye seeming to mist over with something, "I..."

Kagome did not hear the last words, and he never finished. There was a sharp sound behind her, like the slicing of air, and then she felt immense pain. Her eyes widened and she looked down to see something like a root having impaled through her stomach, and straight down through Inuyasha's. Her arms suddenly buckled and she collapsed, her mind screaming in pain as she fell onto one of Inuyasha's arms, her shoulder buried in the nook between it and his chest. 

"Sympathies between a half-breed and his wench... It's nauseating." Kagome pried her tear-dried eyes open to see a massive shape rising above them. Naraku. She seized up in pain once more as the tentacle, the one having pierced through her and Inuyasha, was drawn out vehemently. The vile lord drew closer, but Kagome knew she had more to do. Pushing herself up with the last strength she could find within her body, she stared down at Inuyasha, his own eyes closed. 

"Inu... Yasha! I... love you..." Her voice throat suddenly felt constricted, and she could feel blood rising in it. Letting her head fall on Inuyasha's chest she felt the blood pounding in her head... But... There was no heart beat. Inuyasha... was dead. _'I-... I never got to tell him...'_

Kagome's body racked violently as blood was forced from her throat. All warmth was gone now as only pain was known to her, and Naraku, possessing the unbroken Jewel of Four Souls, the Shikon no Tama, murdered her as she let out her final sob of anguish.

----------------------------------Prologue End

*squirms* that, my friends, was not pleasant to write.. A tad short.. But I don't enjoy writing sad stuff.. but, well... that basically explains the history of what happened.. the actual story will begin with chapter 2.. please review... i like to know what people think =)... 

((ps- sry bout any spelling/grammar errors.. Our computer is a bit weird at the moment.. *coughs*))


	2. Not One of Those Good Days

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha… Bite me. ::……is bitten by millions of obsessed fans:: off! OFF I SAY!!!

On a lighter note…. Thank you so much to those who left reviews, and it feels great to know that my writing actually triggered some sort of emotion… ::laughs stupidly::

Anyway.. Chapter 2 here we go.. =) Hope you enjoy.. And.. Um.. *cough* please review afterwards ^^"

Oh yeah.. And if it seems to be going a bit slow at the beginning, trust me, it picks up quickly =P ((and please read the prologue if u haven't already o_0'' *pokes you with a pointy stick*))

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Summary Thing:

They lost the final battle with Naraku, but Fate was not done with Inuyasha nor Kagome. Years later their souls have been reborn, and Fate will not let them be so blind with each other this time... for this is their last chance.

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Fate Gave Three

By Areine

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Chapter 2: Not One of Those Good Days

Year 2048; Tokyo, Japan.

Kaiya Yahwe was beginning to believe that she was going to spend the rest of her life sneaking around. She was presently peering around the corner of a tree as she tried to make sure that there was no one… unwanted… waiting in her path. Her brown eyes were narrowed a bit as she tried to check out even the shadows around the area, and her dark hair was falling around her face to frame her cheeks. Her hands were brought up to her stomach as she nervously fingered with the ring she wore. It had been given to her by her father, who had died serving the military when she was only eight. The ring was old but carried enormous sentimental value for her, and as her finger tips rubbed it apprehensively she felt as if things would be okay for her this one day… As if.

It was summer break, and had been for the past month. She had been taking a walk in this old park, alone, when one of her neighbors had stopped her and told her that someone had been looking for her.

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"Oh… really?" She had asked skittishly, "Did they say anything to you?"

The girl had placed a finger to her lips dumbly before suddenly giggling as she remember, "Oh! Right! He had… um… Just asked if I had seen you around or whatever… And… I hadn't of course…" She blinked rather slowly before accelerating forward again, "Oh! That reminds me, we really do have to get together sometime! I have just been **dieing** to have a girls' night out and…"

Kaiya's nerves were already on edge by that time, "Who was it?!"

Tori, the fourteen year old who sadly was a bubbling ditz sometimes, pursed her lips in hurt, "Well… I do believe it was Yukio… But honestly-"

Kaiya had cut her short then by letting out a quick goodbye and running off.

Seeing that the coast was clear Kaiya stepped around the bend in the path and continued on. The area she was walking in was a forest, though rather young, so the trees were barely formidable looking. Years ago they said this had been some neighborhood, or at least a part of the outskirts of Tokyo, but there had been a fire and no one had bothered to rebuild anything… But, of course, they couldn't just leave a big area of burnt… _stuff_, so they had had put some trees in, cleared a walking path, and called it a 'park' for lack of a better name.

She was just beginning to relax when she heard heavy, and fast, footsteps behind her. Turning around she felt her body flinch our of instinct. 

Yukio Katashi was her boyfriend, but she did _not_ have feelings for him… Not like anyone else knew though. He was notorious for getting into fights, getting drugs illegally, gambling, and getting into business with gangs… Those weren't the things that scared Kaiya the most though. He hurt her. She kept telling herself that he did it on accident, but she knew in the pit of her stomach that when he hurt her he had full intentions to do so. She wondered why she didn't just break up with him… Leave him… But every time she even thought of doing it her insides coiled. He was like a drug to her. Harmful, but it's too hard to let go. '_And I owe him… I owe him… He saved me… Remember that?'_

She was thinking of how they had first met. Someone had been trying to steal her purse from her, and they had pushed her down hard. But… Yukio had been there for her. He had gotten her purse back… He had been the one to help her up… But she kept trying to forget the feeling in her stomach when she had seen that her money had still been taken… And then, when they came back, to try and actually _hurt_ her… It was Yukio who had been there. Yukio was always there, helping her… guiding her…

But even when he grabbed her arm roughly, his chocolate-like hair falling around his bright hazel eyes, she couldn't help but wince. 

"Hey babe, I've been lookin' for ya!" 

He was grinning at her, looking almost innocent, but she could see it in his eyes. She could always see it in his eyes. 

"Wh - What is it this time, Yukio?" She talked softly, knowing he was going to ask for something. Her brown eyes looked up into his own gaze. She was fourteen and he was sixteen, so he was easily taller than her.

"Hey, you know me too well," he winked at her, steadily beginning to pull her along the path, although his grip never left her arm. 

"Well… ya see, I've got a meeting with Susumu's gang tonight… And they're expecting me to bring them this payment I've sort of promised them…"

Kaiya looked to him, pain in her eyes, "Yukio-kun… I… I really thought you were trying to quit…"

The teen just glared at her, "Damn Kaiya! You know how hard my life has been with dad losing his job and all…" He continued on in a softer tone, "The drugs _help_ Kaiya, can't you just fuckin' understand that instead of getting on my back? Can you get me the money or not?"

They had stopped walking. Yukio was gripping both her arms with an intense grip, and he was shaking her slightly as he spoke, glaring flames with his gaze as he stared into her eyes. She was making a point to keep her eyes focused on a leaf on the ground.

He squeezed her harder, fingers digging into her already sensitive skin as he made his final comment. "Kaiya, just bring the fuckin' money to the alley behind that run-down fish shop around ten, tonight!" When he got no answer, and saw tears forming in her eyes he bit back a wave of curses he felt rising. "Well?! What the hell is it now? Can't you just help me out for once without turning into a tea bag of tears?"

Kaiya let out a shuddering breath as she looked back into his face, concern written clearly in her eyes. "I… Please, this will be the last time? Promise me?"

Yukio rolled his eyes, "Yeah, okay. I promise, last time." He fixed his gaze pointedly at her, "But you'll bring it?"

"It will… be hard… my family is already having enough problems Yukio… I'm going to have to start taking from-"

"I know… I know… I'm sorry babe, but really, you're a life saver," he smirked, "So, ten tonight behind the shop, okay?"

The girl just bit her lip and nodded, not even daring herself to refuse.

"Okay… well… I gotta run… I'm trusting you Kaiya, okay? Susumu is not a forgiving guy… and if something happens cause you don't show…"

"I understand."

His smirk widened, "Of course baby." He kissed her forehead, released her arms, then jogged away as if nothing had happened.

Kaiya stood silently, her hands rising to massage her arms. A lot of people wondered why she wore a jacket in the dead of summer, and this was why. '_He doesn't mean to leave bruises… He just gets so carried away…'_ She bit her lip when she felt as if more tears would rise. Taking a look down at herself she closed her eyes, just letting the wind brush around her as if life was perfect. Her sundress flipped around her thighs with it as she slowly began to turn around and begin heading back to home. '_Where am I going to get the money now? I've already used up all mine… Would… Would I really take from my own family…?' _

She was beginning to feel her body shake nervously (it had been doing that a lot now lately) when she suddenly saw _something_ off in the woods. She lifted her head quickly, her hair falling around her face as she wondered with fear if it was Yukio again. '_It… It couldn't be… But- What was that…?'_ She tried to think of a way to describe it in her mind, but it was more like a feeling and a light. '_I must be going crazy…' _

And she couldn't explain it then (or later) why she decided to leave the path and follow whatever that 'feeling' and 'light' was.

The branches were scratching at her arms as she made her way further into the woods, making sure to walk straight so she could find her way back to the path later. She was in a thoughtful daze, and so was alarmed when she felt her leg hit something very much solid on the ground. 

Looking down her eyes widened with astonishment as she saw a… well? _'Wait… if this 'park' was made over the remains of some burnt place… Wouldn't this make sense…? But… Who would need a well?'_ She crouched down to her knees in confusion as she rested her arms on the lip of its edge (pleased to find the moss covering it made a fine cushion). Looking down she self-consciously brushed some hair behind her ear, before letting out a sharp cry as she saw her ring fall into the darkness of the well.

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'How?! That can't be right! It has **always** been tight on my finger! My eyes are playing tricks… on… me…' Her thoughts were slowed when she actually took the time to examine her finger. The ring her father had given her, it was missing. _'Why now though? I am positive it fit me… That's not right!' _She slapped the well with the palm of her hand to emphasize her frustration. She felt her eyes watering up again. _'Oh my God… Don't cry again… Come on- pull yourself together and go get it!'_

Brushing the back of her hands against her eyes she looked around guiltily before slowly sliding her leg over the well's edge. There were vines growing all over it, so a foot hold was not hard to find as she lowered herself. Finally releasing her last hold on the well she felt her heart jump when her hand crushed something brittle. Looking to see where she had put her hand she saw what looked like a dead butterfly resting on one of the vines. She grimaced, but felt sadness for the little creature. She could tell through the grime that once it must have been a pretty shade of blue… _'Come on, focus girl! The ring, just get the ring and get out of here!'_ It was still rather early in the day, so she didn't have to worry about the sun setting, but the butterfly seemed to hook something in her heart…

The further she climbed down the more she began to worry about how deep the well was. She was beginning to become frightened of falling, when suddenly her foot was brushing against solid ground. Looking down she let out a sigh of relief when she saw a dirt bottom to the well. Stepping down she instantly crouched and ran her hands all through the litter at the bottom (it seemed that many plants decided to waste away at the well's inners) as she searched for the simple gold ring with the simple little diamond in it…

As the minutes passed she began to worry. 

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'Where is it? Now I **know** I dropped it down here! …Wait… That's it!' Beneath some dirt she could see the glint of some kind of jewel, and she let out a small laugh of triumph… But when she pulled it out she frowned to see that it was not her ring.

What she held in her hands was much smaller, and was like a shard chipped off of some stone. It had a pink glow to it from what light was passing down into the well, but it didn't look very valuable. She sighed, and was about to throw it away, when she suddenly felt a wind stirring around her. Clenching the jewel tightly in her hand on instinct she looked around in bewilderment.

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'Huh? How did a wind pick up down-' Her thoughts ended when suddenly the ground seemed to drop beneath her and she fell into darkness. Her eyes widened as she looked around. _'Wha..? Shouldn't I be falling?'_ She felt, instead, as if someone was gently lowering her down. And, what captured her attention even more was the little speckles of light seeming to be hovering all around her. _'What is going on?!'_

As the seconds passed she suddenly felt in her right hand a sharp pain, as if someone was giving her a shot. _'That little… rock… thing! I didn't know it was so sharp!'_ She instantly opened her hand to throw it from her, but nothing dropped. Blinking in surprise she only winced when she examined her hand. In the center was a small opening, and she could see the small little jewel embedded deep in her hand. She let out a little gasp of pain, clutching that hand to her chest, before she suddenly realized that feeling of falling had stopped.

Looking around herself she saw that she appeared to be in the same position as before… But why did it smell different? And why was it darker? She looked up from where she sat at the bottom of the well, and when she couldn't make anything out, she stood and decided she would need to get out sooner or later. She avoided using her right hand, as it was starting to hurt pretty painfully (she figured if she didn't get it out soon she'd get an infection, figuring how dirty that little jewel must have been), and began a slow but steady climb up and out. _'Of all the days to wear a sundress!'_

Kaiya soon forgot that slight annoyance when she hoisted herself out of the well. 

Her jaw literally dropped.

"W- What?! Where AM I?" She whispered to herself almost feverishly. Her eyes widened as she looked around desperately. _'Oh my God… I'm going crazy. I knew it.'_

What she had just stepped out into was not a forest. As she looked around all she saw was darkness and great vines of white… stuff. _'What… is it?'_

Without thinking she walked forward and touched one of the thin white vines with her fingers, noticing how much it resembled string, only to draw it back harshly when she felt how sticky it was. _'Ew… What kind of plant is this anyway?' _

Taking a step back she looked around to see if there was any obvious opening in all the white maze of 'string' (for it seemed to be everywhere). She could feel her hands shaking with fright as she questioned once more how she ended up here. _'When I fell… Did I climb up the wrong passage way or something? But I didn't see any other way… And why would two wells be connected?'_

She was just finishing turning around 360 degrees when she saw someone _in_ the white stuff. Well, tied up in it at least. He was dressed in what she would study in school about the old samurais, but his clothing consisted of mainly cloth… Or, at least, most of it was covered from some sort of red cloak he wore over the black cloths. His wrists were completely tied up in the white string even though he appeared to be simply sitting on the ground (much in the position a dog would sit in, she noticed with slight amusement). There were more strings leading to him, and she wondered to herself for a moment if his legs were bound as well… 

As she studied him closely she could see that his hair was white, but something told her it was not from old age… It was long, and was sweeping down over his slightly bent back. Kaiya couldn't make out his face, as there were thick bangs that dropped over his forehead and shadowed it to her. _'I wonder… what are those things on his head?'_ Her eyes, even in the darkness, caught two rather triangular things protruding from the top of his head. Curiosity over took her as she approached slowly, flinching at the sudden sounds she made when her feet hit the leaves underfoot. _'Is he asleep?'_ She wondered thoughtfully to herself as she felt the distance being closed…

And suddenly she was just a foot or two away from him, and she could make out that he had two white ears like those of a wolf. Before even questioning herself as to _why_ he might have those ears, or as to _what_ he might be, she tentatively reached out her fingers to touch one, keeping her right hand clutched to her chest as she felt her heart speeding up. Her fingers were but centimeters away when she saw a glint of gold and looked down into the boy's face, jerking her hand back fast as lightning as she let out a surprised gasp.

Beneath thick white bangs she could see, quite clearly, that he had one golden eye open, focused, although narrowed, and staring with pure hell fire back into her own eyes of brown.

------------------Chapter End

Mmm… I hope that isn't too much of a cliff hanger.. But you people really should thank me, because I _was_ going to end this chapter much sooner, but decided not too cause I'm a good little girl like that ^_^

Um… Right… So, if you're thinking that's Inuyasha at the end, and you're prepared to flame me cause it doesn't fit the story, don't, cause it's not. Just hold your horses (or ponies) x_%

Continuing on..

Names. The only reason this chapter didn't come out even sooner was because I was trying to figure out all the names for the characters in this story ::blushes:: 

So, because I spent so much time on it, I'll let you know the meanings. Lol. 

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Kaiya Yahweh 

the 'main' character.. (sort of, just like kagome isn't the actual 'main' character of the manga or anime for Inuyasha)

Kaiya (Japanese) means 'forgiveness'. forgiveness of who you might ask? Yeah, well, you'll figure that out later. Lol.

Yahweh (last name), is, technically supposed to be Yah-weh. But I didn't like that too much, so I changed it around a bit. It means, 'resurrection of the moon'. if that doesn't fit the character then I don't know what else does. I was thinking of giving this to her as her first name, except for two things.. 

*1* I wanted her name to start with 'k' (if you haven't figured out who she is.. ::sigh:: it will be talked about, I believe, in the second chapter anyway, for all you dense little ninnies out there… ;P)

*2* 'Yahweh' is not meant to be some a first name o_0''

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Tori ???

Kaiya's bubbly little neighbor? Remember her too?

Tori (Japanese.. again) it means 'bird'. I thought of how some birds can be very.. Um… loud? I suppose? So I thought since she's a rather ditzy little character she can have that as a name. 

??? (you'll hear about her last name later)

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Yukio Katashi

Remember? Kaiya's "boyfriend"? 

Yukio (Japanese) means 'gets what he wants' (seriously, lol) I thought it was perfect that moment I saw it ;)

Katashi (also Japanese; last name) means 'firmness'. if you still don't understand why I gave him that as a last name, you will ^^''

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Susumu ???

The leader of the gang Yukio was talking about.. 

Susumu (Japanese again) means 'advancement'. for a gang leader I thought it fit well.. 

??? (like Tori I'll be giving the last name later)

Those aren't all the names I've figured out that I want to use, but they're the only ones that have been released in this chapter (I have a few planned out already) so you'll have to wait ^_~

So.. That's all.. And please leave a review or what not ^_^ I love hearing from you guys (all you anonymous people out there too! :P)

PS: If you don't understand _how_ there was a piece of the Shikon jewel in the well, because it doesn't match the Prologue and stuff… then good for you! ^_^ ::gives you a cookie:: it'll all be explained.. So.. ::coughs:: just give me some time =)

((review!))


	3. Not Your Knight in Shining Armor

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha… that's all =)

Thank you so much for the reviews u guys! They mean _so_ much to me =) I hope I don't disappoint~ ^_^ ((and, yes, if you weren't sure, Kaiya _is_ the reincarnation of Kagome.. While the 'white-haired boy' is inuyasha's reincarnation.. Everything is going to be explained though, so if you're still not getting it then the next chapter I believe will shed some light [chapter 4]))

Anywho- chapter 3! Things are running right along ^_^ read and review and maybe I'll give you some ramen ;)

Note: if you're wondering about this story's rating (PG13) it's because of the language (vulgarities) and violence. Sorry if anyone out there wanted me to say this a little earlier ^^''

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Fate Gave Three

By Areine

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Chapter 3: Not Your Knight in Shining Armor

Kaiya was staring dumbly. Her eyes were wide, one hand was clutched to her chest and the other was hanging by her side tightly as if looking for something to do. She was still staring down at the boy, her attention taken in alarmed rapture by that one golden eye staring so coldly at her. Seconds seemed like hours to her as she could hear her own heart beat in her head, her breathing quickly turning to fast and shallow as time ticked by. 

It seemed as if nothing was going to ever happen between the two, and that they would forever remain locked together in that way, but the boy broke the aura around them when he opened his other eye (which was just as unnaturally colored as the first) and rose to his feet. Kaiya suddenly became aware that he was, in fact, not as young as she had first assumed. He was larger than her, taller, and that only frightened her even more as she took another step back.

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'Do something… Do something… Do something… Do something…' Like a broken record player that thought was the one thing that kept passing through her head, but she was in too much of a state of shock to actually put that little plan into action. She couldn't help but notice, however, when the boy's mouth seemed to curl up as he bared a fang at her. _'Hold on… People don't have fangs! Get a **grip**!' _In dismay her gaze traveled to the top of his head once more, where she saw that the two ears she had just tried to touched were pinned precisely in her direction. _'But people don't have ears like those either… At least they're not supposed to…'_ She felt like the baby sheep cowering in front of the big bad wolf, and even the fact that he was the one bound by the white 'string' didn't seem to comfort her at all.

"Who the hell are you, bitch?"

Normally Kaiya would have snapped at him for calling her 'bitch' (even Yukio didn't call her names… at least not to her face), but she was too distressed by the fact that this boy could actually form speech… He just didn't seem the type looking so, _wild_, and all…

"Oh my God… He can actually talk…" She murmured this quietly to herself, and was so even more surprised when the guy's ears seemed to narrow in on her very mouth and he scowled like she was the biggest idiot in the world.

"Of course baka! Now who the hell are you? Are you one of Naraku's little play things?"

"My name is Kaiya Yahweh… Anyway… uh… what… I mean-" She paused, trying to think of how to word her thoughts into tangible speech, "I'm wondering… _Hey_! Wait a second…" She felt her face heat up as she dropped both her arms stiffly to her side, hands clenched. "I am **no one**'s play thing, jerk, and you don't have to be so _rude_ to me! And- And I have no idea who this 'Naraku' guy is or even _why_ you would think that! And… And… How dare you ask!"

The golden eyes that had been watching her closely seemed to drop to what she was wearing, and Kaiya felt herself looking down self consciously as well. "It's called a sundress and is completely acceptable-" When he gave her a look she added, "-where I'm from."

"You must be that bitch…"

"Ex-CUSE me?!" She pointed a finger at him accusingly, "Don't you get off calling me that… that word! And- And… Where _did_ you get those ears?!" 

Now it was the boy's turn to be self conscious as she watched the white ears flicker, then flatten themselves down to his skull. She wasn't really sure where that question had come from, she hadn't meant to say it, but since it was already asked she found herself wanting the answer quietly.

"I'm an inuyoukai wench! You should be used to us now, so keep talkin' like that and I'll rip you to pieces!" He was audibly growling now, which quite clearly exposed his fangs. To his pleasure he watched the girl shrink back from him further.

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'W-What? Youkai aren't real… They're only in stories… but… Oh my God. I really am going insane… I… but… This is too real…' Her eyes were wide before she suddenly realized she was still being watched. She sneered at him, suddenly remembering, "Rip me to pieces? Well, I'm not the one all tied up in string… Now- who are _you_ and what are you doing here? Well… where is 'here' anyway?"

"What the _fuck_, you can see the webbing?" He was staring at her as if she had just announced that she could fly.

"Of course, it's everywhere baka," She rolled her eyes and added jokingly, "What, you _can't_ see it?"

He just stared at her longer, and under his scrutiny she felt her temper rising again.

"Well? You never told me who you were…"

"Inuronin, now, if you can honestly see this shit, do you think you could cut me out of it?" He said, throwing his name out as if knowing it would mean nothing to her.

"Hey hey hey, hold on, so your name is Inuronin?"

"Yes, bitch! Now can you-"

"Stop calling me that! I gave you my name, use it or I'll come up with something to call _you_!"

He sneered at her, "Well you _are _a bitch, now will you just cut this shit around me?" 

Kaiya fumed, _'That… that… jerk!_' …She sneered right back, "Okay, _puppy_, but how do I know you're not going to just attack me once I get you out?"

"_Puppy? _Bitch_… _Why the hell would I waste my time killing you anyway? You won't survive one day going on like you are anyway if you continue butting around in places you shouldn't be…" He trailed off, seeming to wait for her to respond.

Which, of course, as insulted as she was, she did.

"Excuse me! But I'm tough!" She blushed when 'Inuronin' raised an eyebrow at her and smirked. "And it's not like I _wanted_ to 'butt in' here… I had dropped my ring down the well… And when I went to get it, I found this little jewel, and I was just looking at it when I had this feeling like… falling… And when I climbed back out I was here and…" The boy was quiet now, and he was watching her without making any sign of interruption. "Oh! My ring! I never got it!" She was turning around to go and find the well again, when…

"OI, BITCH! Can't you keep your attention _focused_ for _one_ minute!"

She blinked once or twice before turning around, "Oh… right… I have to let _you_ go…" She said, making sure to sound disappointed.

"God you humans are pathetic… And don't touch any of that webbing you can see…"

Kaiya just nodded her head as if being told off by a parent before she went searching for something to cut that stuff. She used her feet to brush away leaves as she searched for maybe some sharp rock. As it seemed one wasn't going to make this easy for her and just show itself she decided to get some more answers out of him.

"So… How did you get all tied up anyway?"

"None of your damn business." Was the fast retort. The teen girl just scowled. 

"Is that why you're in such a bad mood? How long have you been in here anyway?"

"Why would you care, bitch?"

"I'm just trying to start some decent conversation… And I said stop calling me that!"

Kaiya was huffing angrily as she crouched down, her back to him with her hands searching a new area of ground for something sharp. From behind her Inuronin grinned, choosing to egg her on.

"Call you what?"

"You _know_ what I'm talking about! That _word_!"

"Actually, I don't. Would you enlighten me with what _word_ that would be?"

"I'm not arguing with you!"

"You already are."

"AM NOT!" Kaiya barked at him, her head flung around angrily, and from where she was she could see quite clearly that he was laughing. Clenching her teeth she picked up a stick from the ground and hurled it at him, quite pleased with herself when it made contact with one of his ears.

"Hey! What the hell was that for!?" He snapped, his ear seeming to curl back and hide itself from her.

"I thought puppies liked to play with sticks?" She replied innocently before continuing her search, blocking out the current of curses and insults that were making their way to her ears. _'If he weren't such a jerk he would probably be cute.'_ She thought with amusement to herself, but before her thoughts could continue she suddenly _felt_ a soft… pulsing?

"What was that…?" She whispered to herself, heading farther into the webbing than intended when she felt the pulse again. 

"Hey, wench! Where do you think you're going!?"

She sighed, closing her eyes in irritation.

"I'm just going to check something out…" She called back, choosing to ignore his question of, 'When did I give you permission to do that?'

She wasn't very far when she felt her nose tingle and her stomach twist nauseatingly. _'What is that smell..?' _She wondered to herself, bringing her hand up to try and defend herself from some of it. She stepped through more white vines (taking great care not to touch any as she remembered how sticky they were, and especially watching her long hair) when her eyes widened in fright. 

There, in a little clearing, were skeletons and rotting bodies alike. But they did not look human. 

She chose to ignore them. She determined she was hallucinating.

The pulsing was coming stronger and she looked up to see what appeared to be a rather clean boulder. _'Huh?'_ Bringing her gaze farther up she saw what looked like a handle. She raised an eyebrow. _'Who puts a handle on a rock…?'_ Walking forward, and taking great caution to not step on… anything… She inspected it closer to see that it was actually a sword or such embedded in the rock. _'And it has a pulse? What is it then?'_ She reached out her hand (still not using the one punctured by the jewel), and jerked back forcefully - expecting it to be very much stuck in the rock. But it came out quite easily, to her surprise.

She fell on her rump painfully, her free hand instinctively rubbing her tail bone as her other was holding a rusted sword. She smiled brightly to herself. _'Well, for once I'm having some good luck!'_

The sword was obviously very old, as it was nicked and rusted all over. The handle seemed to actually be wrapped in some sort of cloth… _'The pulsing stopped.' _She noted to herself, wondering where it had come from. 

"BITCH! I DON'T HAVE ALL DAY!"

Kaiya stood, using the sword as a sword of staff as she stretched upwards.

"I'm coming back! Give me a minute!"

She decided to take her sweet, precious time.

******************************************************************

"What the HELL took you so long?" Inuronin snapped at her the second she was back.

Kaiya frowned, "Well, I felt this really weird… vibration? I guess you cou-"

"What the _HELL_ is that?!" 

Her frown deepened at being ignored. "It's the sword the-"

"Hold on… What did you say about a vibration?!"

"WOULD YOU SHUT UP FOR JUST ONE SECOND?!"

Golden eyes blinked at her before the boy just tossed his head, "Keh! Whatever."

She could see the way he kept looking at the sword though. He would stare at it long and hard, eyebrows furrowed together as he just watched it… glaring at it as if it had done something wrong… Inuronin failed to notice that Kaiya was watching him right back.

"Um… What are you staring at?"

His ears were the first thing to acknowledge her before his gaze was set on her face, now staring at _her_ accusingly. 

  
"Where did you get that?"

"I _tried_ to tell you already that I had felt this like… vibration… or pulsing feeling coming from somewhere, that's why I went off. Then when I got there, there were all these really nasty dead bodies and I saw this sword like… slotted in the boulder so I went and pulled it out," she paused for a moment, "Funny thing though… When I pulled it out, all the weird vibrations and stuff stopped… Hey, what's with that look!? What did I do wrong _now_?"

Inuronin was glaring at her in disbelief. "_KAIYA you BAKA_! There were dead bodies around, a funny pulsing, and yet you _still_ had to get the fuckin _sword_? What happens if it had been a trap? Did you ever wonder _why_ there might be dead bodies everywhere? Do you have _no_ sense of self _preservation_?!" He tossed his head dramatically, "_Stupid_ girl!"

Kaiya fingered the blade guiltily, "Well, I couldn't find anything to cut you out of that stuff and… Wait…" She was suddenly smiling radiantly up at him.

Inuronin met her gaze, "What?"

"You used my name!" She chirped happily. _'Besides the fact that the rest of the babble coming from your mouth were complete and utter insults… But…'_

"Keh! Like that means anything?"

Kaiya just smiled at him as if she had won some great victory. Inuronin mumbled something about crazy girls. Too much into the moment Kaiya walked forward and reached out, grabbing one of the white strings tied to him.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing?"

She blinked up at him, slightly confused. "I'm cutting you free…"

Inuronin just blinked and looked at her hands, where it looked to him as if she had just grabbed onto thin air.

Kaiya gasped.

"You- You _can't_ see the string?"

The white haired boy just stared around him, before seeming to talk to himself, "It's webbing, and… No… I can't. You must really be whoever Naraku was talking about…"

Kaiya watched him for a few seconds, before searching for some more answers, hoping this time he would actually be helpful.

"Who is this Naraku? And _what_ was he saying about me?" She asked as she brought the sword up to cut one of the vines.

Inuronin, however, was too caught up in watching her use the sword.

She sighed in exasperation. "I'm not going to hack your ear off or anything you know."

The only reply she got was that the boy flicked his ears back then flat, and let out a 'keh' while turning his head away from her.

Suddenly remembering she asked him softly, "Just wondering… when I threw that stick at you, I didn't really hurt you, did I?"

"Like some human could hurt me." He let out haughtily.

"Well excuse me for asking…" She mumbled, returning her attention back to cutting at the strings. It wasn't that difficult, but the 'webbing' as he kept calling it seemed to be made up of hundreds of different strings all put together.

"So… are you going to tell me who Naraku is or not?"

"You seriously don't even know who the hell he is?"

She was about to take this as another insult, but when she glanced at his face, and saw him watching her, she could see that he was being quite serious.

She nodded her head. "I - I don't know how I got here… But this place can't be where I'm from…" She glanced at his, 'youkai features', nervously. "Where I'm from youkai are only in stories."

He watched her for a few seconds more before nodding, then turning his head away slightly, "Naraku is a bastard tyrant seeking control over the whole fuckin' world- that's in a nutshell."

Kaiya paused for a moment, stunned, before moving on to the next string of web when one fell away, hoping he was going to continue.

  
"You might want to hurry up."

She sighed in frustration, "I'm going as fast as I can."

"Yeah, well, we should be getting a visitor soon if that ass wasn't lying."

"Okay, honestly, would you tell me what he said? Why are you tied up? And how could he have known about me? It has to be some other person… And what do you mean visitor?"

Inuronin's golden eyes were sweeping the area, and she actually thought she saw his nose twitching. _'How much like a dog is he..?'_ She wondered to herself.

"Naraku was the one who got me in this crap. He said that this webbing belongs to a great spider youkai, and that the simplest movement in any of the webbing would get its attention to take down prey… I've been bound pretty loosely, so I can move, but cutting it will have to get its attention… He said we would have an hour to get out before the youkai… Hey, didn't you just hear me?"

Kaiya had stopped cutting and was just staring off into space. _'Oh… Oh no… Oh no no no…'_

"What the hell is it?"

"Inuronin… I… when I first came out of the well… I touched some of the webbing." She refused to meet his gaze.

"Fuck, bitch! How long ago was that?!"

Kaiya could feel his eyes boring into his, so she instantly went back to cutting away, her face heating up beneath his intense scrutiny.

"I don't really remember… It couldn't have been that long ago, right? I'm almost done anyway… Just three more…"

Inurino growled, "Just slash them you baka! Don't sit there and _saw_ at em, cause of you we don't have time for this shit!"

The fourteen year old fumbled with the sword at his sudden command before standing to her feet. Grasping it with both hands she raised the sword, squeezing her eyes shut, and was about to drop it when-

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!"

"I - I was going to slash the rest, like you-"

"WITH YOUR FUCKIN EYES CLOSED?!"

Kaiya felt the blush rise in her cheeks once more, and she raised it again, ignoring the insults randomly spurting from the dog-eared boy. Dropping it down with all her weight she broke through two, with only one remaining. In truth, she was quite proud of her handiwork.

"Hey, that worked pretty well!"

"Just get the last one, wench."

Inuronin was already dusting himself off, only one more thread tied to his left ankle remaining. Kaiya broke through it quickly, dropping the sword as fast as possible. She didn't even want to know what a spider youkai was like… Was it just like Inuronin? But instead of dog parts it had spider parts? She shivered at the thought of a person with eight eyes and poisonous fangs staring at her. _'How would they spin a web anyway…?'_ She thought with embarrassment, before realizing Inuronin was staring at her again. _'I've been dazed out, haven't I?'_

She stood to her full height, then suddenly remembered something. _'Hey… I used my right hand… but wasn't it injured earlier by that rock?'_ She glanced at it briefly, only to see that the skin had sealed over. In the center though, where the skin had been punctured, was a dark mark, and she figured that was just because of the new skin settling in. _'Did it fall out? And how did the skin heal so quickly…?'_

Looking back to Inuronin, she was about to ask why he was still staring at her, only then to realize that he wasn't looking at _her_, but _past_ her. Not bothering to ask she turned around, letting out a gasp at what she saw. 

Standing on the other side of the small clearing was a spider. A **big** spider. _'Oh - Oh my GOD.'_ She felt her jaw drop down as she stared at it. It was presently settled in amongst its webbing, and two fangs set from its mouth were dripping a steaming liquid- obviously its poison. All nine of its eyes were blinking at different times, and somehow she could tell that they were looking at her. _'Wa- Wait a second! Spiders have eight eyes…'_ Its body wasn't covered in hair, but seemed to have thick lumps all over it, and she had to admit it did _not_ look natural.

She didn't bother with what spiders were supposed to look like when the beast let out a suddenly ear-shattering cry and, controlling its eight legs with grace, bounded straight towards her.

And Kaiya was terrified.

She turned around quickly, only to see that Inuronin was gone. Completely. _'That - That JERK left me!'_

Stepping back around to face the new youkai she clutched the sword tightly to her chest. _'It's either run and be caught, or fight and…'_ She didn't have much of a choice when the spider was suddenly in front of her, its long fore legs lifted in the air. It was then that she noticed each of its legs ended in one long, obsidian claw. 

"KY_AA_!" She whelped out, jumping backwards (only to stumble and fall) when one of the legs was suddenly shot out, stabbing where she had been standing just moments earlier. She winced as she felt even more abuse to her tailbone, but looked up quickly, only to see the other leg ready to stab at her. She jerked herself to the side instantly, standing as fast as possible as she rushed forward.

Taking the sword she rushed to the closest leg she could find and swung it as hard as her body would allow. And, with a _TWANG _it bounced right off. _'No!'_ She thought in frustration, only to scream again when she saw the leg open its _eyes_ at her.

It was then she realized that the spider's whole body was covered in eyes, and that they were all opening steadily to focus on her. She backed away dumbly (it's not like she was a born fighter) and just stood there, staring at it as it turned to face her.

"Puny human…" A disembodied voice slithered at her, more venom dripping from the spider's fangs. "How isss it that you have pulled sssuch a sssword… Sssuch a wassste… Can't even draw out itsss true power…"

At that moment another leg was shot out at her, and she did the only thing she could think of- she rushed forward to get underneath the spider. _'If it's legs are too hard to just stab, it has to have soft skin somewhere!'_

But, before she could get there, the spider had backed away and swung another limb at her, but this time she couldn't move out of the way to avoid the attack. It connected with her side, hitting her already sore arms forcefully as she was knocked to the ground like a rag doll. _'What did it mean the this sword's 'true power'… None of this makes **sense**!'_

She sat up slowly, her head pounding heavily as she realized she was bleeding more. Her landing had been rough, pushing her into rocks and sticks, scraping at her skin painfully. _'Stupid sundress!' _She thought bitterly, her hair now falling around her face and dropping clumps of dirt. 

She looked back up, only to see another clawed leg raised above her. This time she knew she wouldn't be able to move away quickly enough, so she did the only thing she could think of- she pushed her hands out in front of her and cowered, the sword forgotten at her side, as if they would protect her better.

She waited for death to come. For pain. But it didn't, and instead she heard hissings and could smell something foul. Opening her eyes she looked up to see her right hand dimly _glowing_ with light, before it faded completely. Looking to the spider in surprise she saw it stumbling to get up, but one of its legs was gone, and its head was bleeding rapidly. Well, she wasn't sure if it was blood that was pouring from the monster. The liquid was yellow and white, like eggs, and was pouring with steam from cut openings in its body. All of its eyes were closed as it writhed in pain.

"How isss thisss possible? A miko? The miko blood… How isss it ssshe posssesss…" Its voice died off before it slumped forward, blood steaming around it as its eyelids flinched before falling still.

Kaiya was shaking on the ground, clutching her right wrist as she just stared at the spider. Her dark brown eyes were wide with fright before she glanced back down to her hand, which was warmer than usual. _'What just happened here? How - How did I do that? **Did** I?'_

She stood trembling, before remembering the sword, which she hastily grabbed again. _'That jewel… when I found it, I had that falling feeling… and now where it tore my skin, it's suddenly glowing… And I just thought I was going to get an infection…' _She looked at her hand again. _'I really, seriously am going crazy…'_

------------------------------------Chapter End

Eep- this chapter wasn't supposed to end there, but I thought that if I took it out to the point I wanted, then it might make it too long, plus, it should fit into chapter 4...

So- You've gotten another name! ::claps:: Ya know what this means? More name meanings! Lol

Inuronin

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Inu mostly everyone should know by now that it means 'dog' in Japanese

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Ronin (Japanese) means 'samurai without a master'. so… Inuronin would sort of mean like… a dog warrior without a master. I thought it would fit the character well =)

So… Chapter 4 is planned out as well… it should be done within the next day or so ^_^

Oh- and if you're thinking, 'Inuyasha would never run away like that!' then.. Yes, you're right. But, for one thing, when Kagome was the reincarnation of Kikyou, they weren't _exactly_ the same personality-wise, so deal with it that they're not going to be _exactly_ the same.. But, also, just wait for the next chapter- he's not actually such a chicken ^_~

(oh yeah, and sorry, I was meaning to release more information on things in this chapter, but it just didn't really work its way in… so hopefully chapter 4 will honestly clear some things up!)

[[ Ps. Review! =P ]]


	4. Are You Seeing A Pattern Here?

Sorry for the long wait for this update . Real life is stressing the padoodles out of me =( Have no fear though, I'll be returning to my normal updating speed soon (I hope).

Anyway- I knew I was going to go and confuse someone ;) Well, I swear to the tips of my toes I'm going to have things explained pretty well in either chapter 5 or 6 (depending…). But at least in this chapter you'll get a bit more information =)

Important: Yes, Kaiya is the reincarnation of Kagome. And yes, Inuronin is the reincarnation of Inuyasha. 

Thank you for all the reviews ^_^ You guys are so awesome =D *passes out brownies* It's so much easier to sit down and just write the stories in a notebook knowing there are people who are actually enjoying it =) And, yes, sometimes putting the author of the story on a guilt-trip is a good tactic to get them to update. ^_~ ((but I wouldn't trust that for everyone, some of them might just get mad, lol))

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Fate Gave Three

By Areine

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Chapter 4: Are You Seeing A Pattern Here?

Kaiya looked at her side, wincing as she remembered her fall. The jacket had provided no protection and she could feel her skin beneath stinging against the cloth. She carefully pulled it off, frowning when she saw her scraped skin beneath torn and red. She bit her lip, dropping the abused jacket to the ground as another small spasm of pain shot through her arm. _'I fell harder than I thought…' _She told herself, before gasping in surprise when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

"You have a lot of explaining to do, wench."

She turned around only to see Inuronin. The first thing she felt was intimidation. He was standing some yards away, arms folded in his sleeves, his face a scowl, the wind picking up his black cloak and flipping it around in the air before dropping it. His silver hair was brushed around before falling still on his back, and that was when she suddenly remembered what happened.

She had been attacked by a great spider _thing_, and he had left her, scared to death and having no idea what to do.

And she was mad as a hornet.

"Ex_cuse_ me? _I_ have a lot of explaining to do? _I _was just attacked by the biggest mutant spider I've ever seen in my entire _life_, _you_ **run away**, and _I_ have a lot of explaining to do?!"

The golden eyes that had been watching her first widened in surprise, his ears flipping back, but then he seemed to regain himself, narrowing his gaze at her as his abnormal lobes flared in her direction

"I just had to see something, and I was right, so I wouldn't have let you just been killed."

He seemed to think that his reasoning would console her, but it only made Kaiya fume even more.

"And if you hadn't been 'right' about whatever it was? You would have just _left me_ to be killed by a _giant mutant spider_!?" She hissed through clenched teeth, walking to just inches away from him as she pointed, yet again, with an accusing finger.

"Maybe, depends what my mood was." He responded, looking down at her with a face of indifference.

Kaiya sputtered over her words, trying to think of some way to vent her anger without yelling at the top of her lungs.

"You're avoiding the subject. I have questions."

She glared at him, "Well, so do I."

"Mine are more important." Inuronin stated, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"What!? I don't think -"

"I already knew that," He tapped her head with one of his knuckles, "Is there anything in there?"

Kaiya resisted the urge to kick him, "Listen _dog-boy_," she hissed, feeling triumphant with the low growl she heard rumbling from his chest, "Why don't we just be nice and get somewhere with this?"

"Keh! Whatever, wench." He said haughtily before stalking off, sitting down when he was a feet away. He crossed his legs, arms still folded in his sleeves.

Kaiya grumbled huffily before sitting down where she was, the sword dropped next to her as she pulled her legs together and to the side (once again regretting the sundress). Silence just passed between the two. She looked at her arm again, which had stopped bleeding, but still hurt. Silently, to herself, she wondered why Inuronin didn't ask about it. _'It's not like I care…'_ She thought to herself, wincing and once again looking up at him. She was slightly surprised to see him staring at her again, though he was watching her arm now. His golden eyes turned up to catch her gaze and he instantly looked away, although his ears didn't stop flittering around.

The teen girl couldn't help but grin at them, unfortunately, Inuronin seemed to take it the wrong way. He glanced back at her, his ears suddenly flattening as far as they would go as he growled at her.

"What are you looking at?"

A light blush rose up to Kaiya's cheeks, "Your ears." She said, pausing between the two words.

When the boy's ears just twitched further down into his silver hair, and she heard him mumble something, Kaiya regretted her action, wondering if she had hurt his feelings.

"What? I just think they're adorable!" She wanted to smack her mouth quiet when she heard it. She had wanted to apologize, but _not_ by saying that. Her blush deepened, but she couldn't bring herself to look away. _'Kyaaaa… I did not just say that.'_

"Huh?" He said, just like the wonderful socialist he was, his gaze meeting hers.

"Your… ears. I - I think they're really cute." Kaiya said, wondering if her face was the same color as a beet by now. She dropped her gaze, suddenly finding the worn out sword much more interesting.

Inuronin looked away at the same time, his own cheeks taking on a blush.

He did, however, perk his ears back up.

After a few moments of tense silence, Kaiya spoke again. 

"You never told me what happened between you and that Narshu guy…"

"His name is Naraku."

"Okay… You never told me what happened between you and that _Naraku_ guy."

Things remained quiet after that, and Kaiya became fidgety. _'Is he going to answer me…?'_

"I was here looking for that sword."

Kaiya blinked, startled by the sudden break in the silence. Looking up she saw him staring at the sword she had set down beside her. His brows were furrowed together again, making her wonder why he kept doing that.

"This old piece of metal?" She picked it up and turned it in her hands as she looked at it. "It didn't even hurt the spider youkai at all, unless you only plan to break spider webs with it."

When she didn't get a response she prompted him further, "Well…? Why did you want it?" She had rested the tip of the sword on the ground, though her hand still gripped the handle.

"They say that that sword is Tetsusaiga. If it's true, then it's the sword that was used by a hanyou long ago, one that could kill 100 youkai with just one swing… It's supposed to be able to transform into some great sword, not that rusted length of crap." His eyes narrowed, he was still staring at the sword.

"Hold on, now what's a 'hanyou'?" Kaiya questioned, not sure if she was following him.

  
For the first time in a while Inuronin looked at her, his golden eyes watching her. "Someone who is only half-youkai."

"And the other half…?"

"Human."

She noted that his mouth curled in disgust. _'Yeesh, he doesn't have to be so derogatory with it since he is talking to one and all…'_

"So… you want to be able to kill 100 youkai in a swing of a sword?" She watched him warily, beginning to question his personality.

"I need it to kill Naraku."

"Is he that bad?"

"He killed my mother."

Kaiya's eyes widened, shocked that he told her, before closing half-way with empathy.

"I'm so sorry…"

Inuronin glared at her, his shoulders stiffening before he closed his eyes and lowered his head- giving off the appearance that he really didn't have a care in the world about it. "Keh, whatever, that bitch was too perky anyway…" His nose suddenly twitched as he picked up the scent of tears. His eyes shot open as he looked up, watching as Kaiya wiped away tears from her eyes.

"What the hell are _you_ crying about?"

The girl just shook her head, "Sorry…" She mumbled, wondering how he could be so cold about it. "What about your dad?"

"Never knew him. Heard he tried to kill me after I was born, so my mom ran off with me."

Kaiya shook her head in amazement. She would have broken down a long time ago if that had happened to her… She didn't want to think about it anymore. It made her think of her own dad…

"So… you came here looking for Tetseega-"

"Tetsusaiga."

"and you got tied up instead…?"

Inuronin clenched his fists tight, even visible through his sleeves. 

  
"Naraku was here. Said some crap about how I 'had to be _him'_ and that this must mean '_she_ is coming'. Then he said some more crap, then told me he would kill me, but not yet. He said he'd wait for _'her'_ to come so he could have some more fun with it." He was growling the whole time he spoke.

"Um… Okay… But that doesn't explain why this 'her' would be me-"

"He said you would have the powers of a miko. That would prove it. He told me to watch you fight, that you would be able to kill a youkai even though you're just some human bitch."

Kaiya felt her face heat up. She clenched her knuckles tight and fought the urge to throw the sword right at him.

"So you were actually watching me the whole time? You watched me while I almost got killed by that spider youkai and you didn't _do_ anything?!"

"Yeah, well, I've answered your stupid questions, now answer mine. How did you do that?"

__

'He's grinning! That lazy little baka, son-of-a-dog, stupid boy is grinning at me! He thinks it's **funny**!'

Kaiya realized her thoughts must be playing right across her face, because he only broadened his grin. _'Yeah… well, I'm not going to give him the pleasure of seeing me angry…'_ She cleared her throat.

"Do what?" She asked icily.

"How stupid are you? How'd a weak human like you kill a youkai?" He then glared at the sword in her clutches. "And how were you able to get that?"

"I don't know. First of all, if I did know, I would have killed that youkai when it first showed up. Second of all, the sword was just sitting in a rock and I pulled it out. It's not that complicated." She shrugged her shoulders.

Inuronin's eyes narrowed.

"Show me where you got it."

"Say the magic word." She answered back bitterly.

"Show me where you got it, _bitch_."

"Oooh- you are _impossible_! Come on before I change my mind and decide- To… to… kick you!" Kaiya huffed angrily, standing to her feet and heading off in the direction she was pretty sure she had gone earlier. From behind her she could hear dog-boy stand and walk after her. She didn't see him smirk at her back though.

******************************************************************

It didn't take long to find the spot. Inuronin had been able to catch the scent of the dead bodies a long time ago. Kaiya found that unnerving, but didn't say anything. When they reached the area she went to the rock, looking for the slot that she had pulled it out of. She pointed to it as Inuronin watched.

"See? It was in this."

He reached out a hand, his red sleeve falling back to rest on the black cloak. "Give me the sword."

"Excuse me?"

"Give me the sword, _bitch_."

"Okay okay, enough with the 'magic word'! But why should I?" She held the sword to herself protectively, as if she needed the rusted piece of metal. 

"You don't need a reason."

Kaiya drew her brows together.

"Okay, fine, but don't you try anything funny."

She held the sword out, its tip pointed out to the right as she pushed the handle towards him. When he reached his hand out though and clasped the handle, there was a flash like lightning and he jumped back quickly, looking at his hand with a surprised expression after the electricity had gone through him. Kaiya just stood shocked.

"Dammit!"

"I didn't do it!" Kaiya blurted hastily.

Inuronin glared at her, pleased when she shrunk back. He stopped, however, when her body visibly shook.

"It was the sword."

She relaxed.

"But… dammit… Why did it reject me?" He argued to himself angrily.

"Maybe… Maybe it likes girls?"

"Didn't you listen to me? Fifty years ago it was used by a hanyou, a male hanyou… why the Hell can't _I_ take it?"

"Um… If a hanyou is half human, and he could use it, if I'm human, and I can use it, and if you don't have any human blood, and you can't use it… Maybe you have to have human blood?" Kaiya said, hoping that maybe she was being helpful. 

"But… shit… I'm a hanyou."

"I thought you said you were a youkai?"

"Yeah, well, I'm only half youkai."

Kaiya nodded, eyes filling with sympathy once more.

"So… was it your mother? Who was human?"

"Yeah…" He nodded, before adding, "And weak as hell just like the rest of em."

Kaiya frowned, but Inuronin continued.

"Damn, and all this trouble… I need to get someone who actually knows how to use that piece of crap!"

He looked like he was beginning to leave, and this scared Kaiya heavily. Even if he hadn't helped her with the spider youkai, she didn't want to be alone in this place…

"Wait! Wha-What about me?"

He raised an eyebrow at her, "Yeah? What about you?"

"You can't just leave me here! Plus… Plus… I can carry the sword for you!"

He stared at her for a while, making her feel very uncomfortable. She fidgeted where she stood, running her fingers restlessly across the sword. Without thinking she looked to her left arm where her injuries had been earlier. Her eyes widened when she saw it was completely healed. _'That's the second time…'_

"Fine."

She looked up to Inuronin, who was still watching her.

"Carry the sword with you. There's a village near here, they'll probably trust you anyway. Just don't get in my way," He narrowed his eyes, "And don't do anything stupid. You seem to have a habit of that."

Kaiya nodded, ignoring his insults. _'As long as I'm not alone…'_

******************************************************************

Inuronin had not lied. From where they had been the village he had mentioned was a short journey away. Kaiya had walked on the ground while Inuronin had leapt from tree branch to tree branch. She had found herself watching him often, wondering what it would feel like to be that strong… Did it feel like flying? He was also fast, very fast. More often than either of them liked he had to turn around and wait for her to catch up. 

But they made it, and Kaiya was surprised to see such an old fashioned village come into view. The homes were close together and appeared to be made out of wood. There were women attending gardens and children playing, she couldn't help but smile. As they had approached Inuronin had joined her on the ground, his arms folded in his sleeves and eyes narrowed. 

She wondered what had gotten him in such a bad mood when there was suddenly a whole group of men surrounding them. Spears were abruptly thrust forward, getting dangerously close and not allowing much movement. A few of the men drew arrows, notching them in wooden bows and aiming them at the pair.

Kaiya, without much hesitation, drew closer to Inuronin as shouts came.

"Your kind is not welcome here!"

"This village has done nothing, leave us in peace!" 

"We only wish to protect our women and children!"

"Stay away from our homes!"

"Be gone you youkai scum!"

Inuronin raised a clawed hand, flexing his fingers with popping knuckles as a deadly glint of light caught his eye. Kaiya's eyes widened in surprise, she grabbed his arm in her free hand.

"Inuronin! Don't!"

She stepped in front of him.

"Listen! We don't mean any harm! And- And I'm human, so you can trust me, right?"

The men eyed her clothing, whispering amongst each other. Finally, after some tense moments, a man stepped forward and pointed to Inuronin.

"We can't trust him, he's one of those inuyoukai, probably in league in Naraku."

Kaiya elbowed the hanyou when he let out a fierce growl.

"Inuronin? Oh… um… he wouldn't hurt a fly!" She smiled and patted his head (which was quite a struggle as she stood on her tip toes to do so). "He's just like a big puppy! Sweet and loyal… and… yeah…"

Before the 'big puppy' could say anything to that the man spoke again.

"Bring Ami."

A few of the men broke from the group and stalked off into the village.

Inuronin took this time to look down and glare at Kaiya.

"Big puppy, _wench_?" He hissed out. "Sweet and loyal?"

Kaiya smiled up at him, pulling her best 'I'm-innocent-and-meek-please-don't-hurt-me' look. 

Inuronin growled in his chest, but tossed his head and didn't say anything more.

A few minutes later an elderly woman was led to them. She was a little taller than Kaiya, though obviously she had a few extra pounds on her. Her hair was gray and white with age, and her face was embedded with wrinkles. She wore a sky blue and white kimono, which touched a few inches above her feet. On those she wore a wrapped white cloth and sandals. Her expression was that of bewilderment, and… hope? She stood staring at the pair, her gray eyes wide as she stood in silence.

"My lady Ami, these are the two." The man from before said, also watching the pair, although is gaze was that of an accusing father.

Ami, however, stepped forward, despite the warnings from around her not to do so.

Kaiya decided to break the tension.

  
"Um… I'm sorry to be intruding…"

"You- Is that you? You pair have come back?" Ami spoke, her voice deep though smooth, "After all these years?"

Inuronin narrowed his eyes while Kaiya raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"Kagome?" She spoke, looking to Kaiya. She then looked to Inuronin.

"Inuyasha?"

-------------------------------------------------------------------Chapter End

Is that a cliff hanger? Sorry this chapter wasn't that long, but my muse on how to get it out had sort of died… but the next chapter will be easier. ^_^ However… Most likely I will be getting out the next chapter to "Through the White Eyes" first. Everyone who was reading that deserves the next chapter after I kept it on hiatus so long. (yes, it's coming off of hiatus, finally).

Hm… so… who's Ami? How did she know about Kagome and Inuyasha? Stay tuned next time.. Yea, whatever. Lol.

Oh! Wait! You guys got another name =)

Ami ???

Ami - (Japanese) means "friend". so, you can sort of get that she won't be an enemy =P

****

??? - she wont be having a last name, just like everyone else from the Sengoku Jedai period.

Oh, and If you want to know how to pronounce it.. I cant help you there, but the way I want it pronounced is "Ah-me" ^_^

So… yes… the next chapter there's going to be a lot of information to explain things with, and things should be getting interesting, so please be patient with me ^.^''

(and.. I would just like to say.. Reviews are nice. Very nice. I like reviews. Reviews are good… oh… and that im sorry for any poor editing.. -_-'')


	5. The Mission, The Escape

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, or any of the characters. 

Wow, this is really past due for an update… Sorry bout such a long wait. I'm not gonna bother you by telling you how hectic my life is- but I was getting sick of never being able to use the computer since my brother is on it all the time, so I just took the laptop he keeps cooped up in his room and am typing up everything in my room right now. Finally. 

Oh! And my dad is back from Japan =) I always love looking at the papers and stuff he gets from there, cause it has a lot of Kanji on it and I love trying to learn it :P Ooo- and he usually brings back gifts from there (since he goes there a lot) and this time I got this little deep, mahogany wood box with these lily-type flowers painted on the top. When you open it up, there's red velvet lining the inside. And, I just figured out, that when you turn this little gold nob in it, it plays music =) ((hey, it took me a while to figure out what it was, I was quite proud of myself… lol))

Heheh, and for those of you making predictions for the story in those brains of yours, be prepared… Bwuaha ^_~ 

Oh, and finally, this is the chapter where information is actually released! Just.. You'll have to decipher for yourself which is true and which is not ^_^ 

------------

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Fate Gave Three

By Areine

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Chapter 5: The Mission, The Escape

Kaiya was beginning to be bothered by the tension in the room. After giving the woman their names Ami had simply asked them to follow her before hustling off to one of the huts, where, once she was some distance away, Inuronin had stated quite clearly that he didn't trust her. Kaiya was finally able to persuade Inuronin to come with her and follow after rather forcefully latching onto his wrist and dragging him- to which he ranted about why he ever chose to let Kaiya follow him.

Presently they were all situated in a rather small, wooden hut. There were various pots and baskets littered around the room, and Kaiya could see some different herbs and water in them. Off in one corner were some futons stacked together for storage, but besides a fire pit in the center of the room there was not much else. 

Inuronin was seated with his back to a wall, legs crossed Indian style and his arms folded in his large sleeves. His golden eyes were fixated with distrust on Ami as the elderly woman used a mallet to pound some herbs in a bowl. She had told them they would talk once she had made them some drinks, stating that they must be thirsty. Kaiya was now sitting silently somewhere between the two, sword at her side and her legs pulled to her right as she started to feel a cramp rising in her hip. How long did it take her to make some simple drinks anyway? It seemed like they had been sitting there forever…

"All done." 

The girl lifted her eyes in surprise to see Ami holding out a small bowl of dark liquid to her. She took it in her hands, glad to feel a strong heat coming from it… Until she looked at it closely. She could clearly see some bits of dark leaves floating at the top… With something that looked like a bone resting at the bottom. Her nose crinkled in slight disgust as she looked up and behind to see what Inuronin's reaction to it was. He had the bowl in one clawed hand while he held it under his nose. After keeping it there for a few moments Kaiya was slightly surprised to see him look over at her (which seemed to be the first time in a while, the way he kept watching Ami like a hawk). Kaiya tilted her head to convey her confusion, and, in response, Inuronin made a point to pour out the contents of his bowl into a random pot once Ami had her back turned away from them. After receiving a strong glare from the hanyou, Kaiya decided to follow suit, and quickly grabbed a basket that was near her. Surprised when Ami suddenly whipped around to look at her, she quickly upturned the bowl and dropped the liquid into the basket… Forgetting that it was woven and not quite capable of containing anything but solid materials. 

Inuronin slapped a hand to his forehead when Kaiya screeched and leapt from her spot on the floor, throwing the basket over her as if that would dry herself. The drink seemed to have been hotter than she had even imagined and burned her lap painfully as she grabbed onto her sundress and waved the drenched portion back and forth in an effort to get it away from her skin. 

Inuronin, of course, had been hit in the head with the thrown basket, while Ami just watched silently before bustling off.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Kaiya couldn't get the blush to leave her cheeks as she sat in silence, clothed in a white and lilac pick kimono. She kept her face cast downwards, terribly embarrassed from earlier. Inuronin was in his same position as before, while Ami was situated across from them on the other side of the fire pit.

"Well, now that we are all ready, I do believe we should have some questions answered." Ami commented simply, having not felt the need to reproduce the drinks. She was smiling gently at the two, cheeks crinkled with age as her lips moved. "I would first like to hear your stories." Her eyes focused on Kaiya as if waiting.

__

'Should I tell her about going down the well? Will that make any sense to her?' Kaiya wondered to herself before responding. _'Well… It seems these people are used to some of the weirdest things… and maybe she knows exactly what happened…' _

She turned her head to see if Inuronin had any advice to give to her, but he was only staring at the Tetsusaiga which she kept next to her.

She sighed, then decided to just tell Ami what had happened… Of course, leaving out a few things Inuronin had done- but that wouldn't hurt anyone…

----------------------------------------------------------------------

It took a while for Kaiya to finish. Every now and then Ami broke in with a question on exactly what something looked like, or how she had felt. It was rather easy to talk to the elderly woman, for she gave her full attention. She had started from the point of first dropping her ring down the well, and finally when she and Inuronin had decided to come to this village.

Ami nodded her head, silent for a few moments as everyone sat in silence. "I see…" she held out one of her hands. "Kaiya, may I see your hand, dear? The one where the jewel punctured it?"

Kaiya blinked, but nodded. Standing, she walked over to where Ami was and placed her hand in the elderly woman's palm. She pointed to the dark patch of skin in the center of skin below her fingers. "Right there, this dark area was where it healed after the jewel cut it, but it feels better now."

Ami shook her head. "It's as I thought. Kaiya, there is no tainted skin on this hand. To me, I see nothing."

Kaiya looked at her hand again. _'I know it's there… maybe it's because her eyes are getting old that she cannot see it.'_

  
"I'm not sure I understand…" was all that Kaiya said however.

Ami took three of her fingers and pushed lightly into the center of Kaiya's palm. "Kaiya, you, like only two other mikos in the past, have the ability to sense the presence of the Shikon no Tama." From where Inuronin sat, his ears perked up.

Kaiya remained quiet for a few moments. What was she talking about?

"No… I really think you have this wrong…"

"No child, I am positive. When I first saw you the resemblance you bore to the last girl with this ability was so great that I called you by her name, Kagome. And the hanyou she traveled with so greatly resembled your friend here, that I called him by the name Inuyasha."

Kaiya blushed at the 'friend' part.

"Like you, Kagome first came to this world through a well. She was found to be the reincarnation of a miko called Kikyou, for she was from 500 years in the future, and so for 500 years after Kikyou's death her soul was born again into the girl. It has been 50 years since the death of Kagome, and it seems her soul has manifested into you… and, fate has decided, it seems, to reincarnate Inuyasha's soul into Inuronin's. It is no coincidence that you two have met."

"Naraku set it up."

Both Ami's and Kaiya's head turned to find Inuronin watching them. 

"He must have known too. About Kaiya. He was the one who kept me in that spider youkai's webbing. He used the power of the Shikon no Tama to bind me there, for I could have easily broken out, and he also cloaked the web in some magic… so only a miko would be able to see it. He talked to me, about how he would get her here first, before killing me." As he continued he closed his eyes, mouth stuck in a frown. "He broke off a piece of the Shikon no Tama and left it in the well, to get her here."

Kaiya felt a shiver travel up her spine. It felt so weird to have people talking about her that were so powerful, yet had never even met her… This whole world was so different…

"No, but he must have meant it to bring someone else. The only reason I went down the well was because I dropped my ring."

"He used the spider youkai's webbing to take it off." Inuronin contradicted.

Kaiya swallowed. This whole thing made her feel so weak, and naïve. "But… that would be almost physically impossible without me feeling it…"

"You really haven't learned anything about this world, have you?" he criticized in response.

"Inuronin…" Both Kaiya and Inuronin turned to look at Ami. "While I can understand why Kaiya would resemble Kagome so much, I do know that for two hanyous to resemble each other so closely is rare. Very rare… Perhaps you know something about this…?"

Kaiya had to admit to herself that she did not look the smile on Ami's face. It seemed so… mocking. But perhaps she was just reading into it too much…

"There's nothing I would need to damn well tell you old hag." Inuronin retorted coldly. 

"Inuronin!" Kaiya hissed at him, surprised at his sudden change of attitude. 

Ami narrowed her eyes before suddenly smiling. "Oh no, it's quite all right…"

Kaiya decided to change the subject. Quickly. 

"Well… I still have a question…"

"Yes child?" Ami harped.

"Well… if Kagome was the reincarnation of a miko woman from 500 years in the past… Why would it make sense for me to be the reincarnate of Kagome if she only died 50 years ago in my time?"

"Well… It seems to me that Inuyasha, because he was half demon, reincarnated some time before a human ever would… However, it seems that the spirit born from Kikyou, and then from Kagome was not about to just forget Inuyasha, or to leave him alone. Or, perhaps fate decided to bind them together." Ami explained.

"So… Kikyou knew Inuyasha as well then?"

"Why yes, both girls had some sort of love relationship with him."

Kaiya never thought her face would turn a deeper shade, and even at that moment Inuronin's face matched hers. To know that you were reincarnated from a pair of people in love with one another… 

"But, I must get to this point before I forget." Ami made a point to look at Kaiya. "We must take that piece of the Shikon no Tama from out of your hand."

"Like… you mean… cutting my skin and taking it out?"

Ami nodded. Kaiya felt her face flush.

"Is it because it's part of the Shikon no Tama?"

"Yes, your miko blood, in reaction to the shard will only make it easier for Naraku to find you, and he is not afraid of hurting you."

"But won't I need it to go back through the well if that's how I get back home?"

"Yes, you will, for only with the power of the shard can you travel through that time rift, but to keep it _inside_ of you is dangerous."

Kaiya did not want to have her skin cut open. Period. 

"It is imperative we do it as soon as possible."

Kaiya swallowed, and her eyes traveled to the door. Maybe she could make a break for it and just run to the well… No… that would never work…

As Kaiya made plans in her head to get out of it, she didn't notice Ami bringing a cloth over to her. When she felt the damp material placed over her nose and mouth her first reaction was to struggle for breath… which she did, only to breathe in the strongest smelling _something_ she had ever smelled in her life. 

She passed out in a second flat.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

When Kaiya felt her senses coming back to her she instantly felt a pain in her hand. Opening her eyes slowly she saw a great number of bandages wrapped around it in the dark, and she fought the urge to groan. She assumed correctly that while she had been knocked out Ami had already preceded to take the shard out. Suddenly noticing a dark glow from beneath her chin, she looked down to see the shard made into a necklace which she was wearing.

As she gained more of her bearings she distinguished the voices of Inuronin and Ami talking… 

"-is this 'friend'?"

That was Inuronin.

"Ah, pardon me, I should have told you more. He is a flea youkai by the name of Myouga. He was, in the past, a friend to Inuyasha and Kagome. I have no doubt that he will know how the sword is to be used."

Kaiya could feel that she was under a blanket, and facing away from the two, so she figured she must have been unconscious for at least an hour.

"How the hell am I supposed to just find a flea youkai? Isn't he supposed to be small?"

"He has made permanent residence in that village, just ask around for him, you should have no trouble."

"And what about that girl? When the hell is she gonna wake up? I don't want to wait for her."

"Don't worry, she will be awake by morning, and I will tell you again that it is very important to _keep her with you_. I have no doubt Naraku will make an attack on her."

Kaiya heard more, like grumbling and movement, but she couldn't make it out. 

__

'So… he's planning on taking me with him to some other place? I can't do that! Someone here is trying to kill me… He **expects** me to stay? I have family, and a boyfriend! Sure, he's not perfect but…'

Kaiya froze. He heart must have stopped at that moment. 

'Yukio… He needed me to meet him, he just needed to borrow money but… I have to get back… He wanted me to meet him at ten… I should just ask… But Inuronin will want me to come back, and I shouldn't have to. This isn't **my** world, I don't need to worry about it…'

The time that Kaiya sat there and waited for a good time to leave was the toughest hour she had ever had to bear through.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Kaiya slowly sat sat up and looked around. It was hard to see in the dark, but the moon provided just the right amount of light for her. She slipped the blanket off of her and tiptoed to the door. She couldn't see Ami or Inuronin, it worried her, but she pushed it to the back of her mind and hurried out of the village, watching where she set her feet as she was going. She remembered that to get to the village she and Inuronin had in a straight direction, and it wouldn't be that hard to find the spider youkai's web. 

However, when she did find the webbing, it was only lying on the ground in great piles while some strands still hung in the trees. She frowned, but continued on. When the creator of the web died, the spider, it must have had some sort of reaction to it… Or something like that…

It took her a while to find the well, as the dark made it much harder to make out its shape. When she did however she felt great relief, and hurried over to it, her piece of the Shikon no Tama bouncing around on its necklace.

She was just about there when there was a rush of wind and she heard, "Oi."

She turned to find Inuronin standing, arms crossed, just a few feet away from her.

"Inuronin…"

"What are you doing here?" he questioned, eyes narrowed.

__

'Why do I feel guilty? I just have to get back to Yukio!'

"I need to go back to my time, to see someone." She reasoned, feeling impatient with anxiety.

"You can't, not with finding out who you are and what you're supposed to do."

__

'How much conversation did I miss between him and Ami…?'

"I'm sorry, but I _have_ to go back, you don't understand… Find someone else."

"This isn't a volunteer job."

Kaiya frowned, how was she supposed to get out of this one?

"Listen, if you really need someone to carry that sword for you this badly, just tie it to a string and drag it along behind you."

To further her point she picked up a piece of the spider youkai's web from beneath her and walked over to him, holding it out in her hand. "Here, use this, happy?"

Inuronin growled down at her, "For one point you forget I can't see it," Kaiya smacked herself mentally, "And another point, I don't need you to just carry the sword for me."

"Well what is it then? Just let me do it now and I'll go, I'm in a hurry."

"You're going to destroy the Shikon no Tama."

Kaiya stared at him dumbly. "The most powerful weapon in this world controlled by the guy who wants to kill me? I don't think so."

"I do."

"That doesn't exactly take just a few minutes, not counting the factor the ever present problem of impending doom…"

"That's why I'm there, I figure out how to use Tetsusaiga, kill Naraku, and you're left to get rid of the Shikon no Tama."

__

'Think Kaiya think… How do you get out of this?'

"Okay… Inuronin… Let me ask you a question…" She lifted the shard's necklace over her head and held it out to him. Inuronin looked at it questioningly. "Is this important to you?"

"Hell yeah it is!"

Kaiya nodded, biting her lip. "Would it be ultra super horrible if I lost it?"

"Yes, dammit, and you better not."

The teenage girl continued to nod her head slowly and thoughtfully as she approached the well a bit more, Inuronin made small movements as if to follow her until she stopped. She knew how fast he could move, and she needed a distraction before she had a chance.

"Yes, well, it's me or the jewel."

With that said Kaiya drew her good arm back and chucked the shard into the forest as hard as humanly possible. The second that one movement was completed she ran to the well before jumping into it…

Only to hit the bottom with a thud, tripping over her own kimono. She sat up, legs pulled beneath her as she thought frantically. _'Why- Why didn't it work?'_

As she thought she suddenly remembered…

"…only with the power of the shard can you travel through that time rift…"

She groaned, feeling as if tears would come to her eyes at any moment. How could she have forgotten? That goes to show you not to make decisions too quickly…

Kaiya hear a chuckle from above her, and looking up she saw Inuronin's face looking down at her. 

"I was wondering what you were doing, throwing away the shard like that. I figured you must have remembered you sort of needed it…"

He started laughing again. 

Kaiya swore she hated his laugh then and there.

She fumed, looking down at her hands, one bandaged, the other one okay. 

"Can you just help me get out of here and back to the village?"

The laughter stopped for a moment before Inuronin answered, "I'll get you out, but you're going to find the Shikon shard first."

Kaiya sighed. 

"Inuronin… But, just think… If I don't go back… someone could be hurt because of me. I _promised _to meet someone at ten o'clock, it's important."

"It's five o'clock."

Kaiya blinked, "You're not serious… In the morning?!"

"Uh…Yeah."

"Oh… I already missed it…"

Inuronin nodded. It's not like he knew what "ten o'clock" or "five o'clock" meant at all, he just made that up. But as long as it worked…

----------------------------------------------------------------------

"So they are heading into the Western Lands."

"Yes my Lord."

Naraku nodded, a grin lighting his pale face.

"Good. He will have no mind but to kill them."

"Are you so certain, my Lord?"

"Yes, for when Inuronin was but a child he knew that Inuyasha's soul was in him. He tried to kill him then, and would have if his mother's compassion had not forced her to flee with her son… He even blames Inuronin on her death…"

"And Kaiya? He will show her no mercy as well?"

He chuckled, "No… the only kindness to humans Sesshoumaru ever had was to Rin, but with her death… No, I have no doubt."

Ami bowed her head, "I trust your judgment my Lord."

Naraku grinned, "Yes… Sesshoumaru… He will not forgive."

------------ CHAPTER END

Hmm.. This chapter was so difficult.. I was trying to get the conversation between Ami, Inuronin and Kagome to be concise, and it took me about 15 tries to get it right… I was probably able to clip out quite a bit of it so I'm sort of proud of myself..

Oh, and if you're wondering… "I thought the Shikon no Tama was supposed to disappear once it was used?" then… just wait. (I seem to say that a lot, don't I?)

So… chapter 5, over and out. 

Also, for those of you who don't know, you are able to check out the progress of a chapter by checking my fanfiction.net author profile. ^_^

Next chapter:   
  
Chapter 6

Family Reunion I: Bittersweet

Egh.. I just hope I give Sesshoumaru justice to his character… 


	6. Family Reunion I: Bittersweet

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, or any of the characters. 

Gosh, this was supposed to be up last weekend, but while I was typing my brother and I got into an argument and he turned the computer off so I couldn't work on it anymore. Then I couldn't get on at all during the week, at least not to work on writing this, so I had to wait _forever_… Ugh. And then I had to cut off where I was going to have it end because I don't want the same thing to happen this weekend, and for the update to be put off for another week… *sigh*

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Fate Gave Three

By Areine

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Chapter 6: Family Reunion I: Bittersweet

Kaiya woke up from where she lay when she heard someone shuffling about around her. Opening her eyes sleepily the sudden fact that her muscles were very sore popped right into her senses. She grimaced especially when, forgetting about her damaged hand, she placed weight on it. She stretched her arms into the air to console her limbs, only to flinch when her back cracked loudly. From where she was Ami turned and smiled at her.

"I see you are awake." She chimed before continuing on to rustle about in the various baskets along the walls. Kaiya saw that she was packing some sort of sack with a variety of foods and herbs.

"What are you doing?" She inquired.

"I'm packing for you and Inuronin's journey today."

Kaiya sighed as she felt herself frowning. It wasn't that she didn't like Inuronin… but Yukio… how had things gone for him? And she was already missing her family… Were they worried?

"What is wrong?"

She focused her attention to see Ami standing right in front of her, the woman's stormy blue eyes looking up at her sharply. 

"It's just that… I miss my home, and where I'm from…" she frowned as she continued, "and there's the fact that there's this Naraku guy out there just waiting to kill me… and I haven't even met him…"

Ami smiled reassuringly, "Dear, do not worry. If Inuronin is anything like Inuyasha, which he is, you will have great protection."

Kaiya shrugged dubiously. He sure had proven to be a great help with the spider youkai yesterday…

"And for your family, Kagome had the same problems. I do faintly remember some of the arguments she and Inuyasha had about her returning to visit her own world."

Kaiya blinked, before frowning, "You make it sound like I'm going to be here for a long time."

Her notice was met with silence.

"Which I'm not." She continued.

Ami began tying a string around the opening of the sack she was packing, focused intently on where her fingers moved.

Kaiya sighed and walked to the door of the small home, pushing aside the thin reed-like material to look outside. She leaned against the door frame as she watched the people of the village bustle about in, what was to them, their ordinary lives…

How could any of this be real? How long would she have to stay here? She kept wondering to herself if maybe she had been knocked out at some point and this whole thing was just some delusional dream…

She was broken from her thoughts by Ami, who was suddenly standing beside her again. The elderly woman had her hands folded behind her back as she watched Kaiya's face intently.

"You will be carrying bow and arrows with you."

Kaiya raised her eyebrows, "Does Inuronin know how to use them?"

"No, child, you will be using them." 

Kaiya blanched, feeling panic stricken all of a sudden, "Listen, I don't know how to use a bow and arrow… I'll have horrible aim, I won't be much help-"

Ami smiled at the girl eerily, shaking her head, "The Kikyou and Kagome from the past were gifted with the bow, their miko powers flourishing with it. Trust in yourself, with time you will gain great experience."

Kaiya nodded as Ami went back inside of the house to retrieve the last items. Kaiya glanced back at her before looking off to the direction of the forest. 

__

'Perhaps… If I go now, I might be able to make it back to the well…' She nervously tucked a piece of hair behind her ear before taking a quick pace forward, watching her feet with the shroud of guilt weighing on her. She knew this was like running away, but this wasn't her problem- why should she have to deal with it? As she got further along her pace quickened, only to find a shadow suddenly across her path.

Looking up her eyes widened in fright and surprise to see Inuronin, arms crossed and gaze forward, following right along with her.

"Where are you going?" He asked gruffly, his gaze sliding to the left to look at her.

Both of them continued walking for a few moments, Kaiya frantically searching her mind for some excuse. 

"I just wanted to go for a walk…" She replied, her focus beginning to drift to the attention some of the villager's were giving them… Their eyes looking on Inuronin, then to her with disgust. _'What have I gotten myself into…? And how am I ever going to get home with Inuronin always popping up like this?'_

"Kaiya! Inuronin!" The pair turned around to see Ami walking towards them, a horse at her side. On its back was slung a cloth, and resting on that was a length of rope holding up two equally sized packs on either side of the rib cage, balancing each other out. The horse itself was a dark bay. Its rich brown color accented with a raven black on its legs, muzzle and hair. 

Kaiya smiled weakly, just happy for the distraction away from Inuronin. Approaching the horse she held out her hand, palm facing up, to the horse's muzzle. For a few moments the horse cautiously inhaled the scent around her before snorting and tossing its head. Its ears flickered towards her, and Kaiya was amused to find that the first thing to pop into her head was Inuronin's ears doing the same.

"I see you do well with horses." Ami commented, having watched the interaction between girl and equine.

Kaiya nodded her head, smiling to turn to her, "Back at home I used to take lessons on horseback riding."

Ami's eyes twinkled, "We call him Ken, meaning strong. He is one of this village's finest, he will carry you well." She remarked, patting the stallion's neck.

"Don't we need two?" Kaiya queried, confused on their thinking.

"Feh! Like I'd need a horse," Inuronin said vainly, "I can travel on my own feet, unlike humans."

The girl furrowed her brows, glancing back at him. _'He actually seemed to have lightened up last night… guess that was too good to last longer than a minute.'_

Ami cleared her throat. "It would be best that you two leave as soon as possible, as the morning will be the best time. I have everything you will need packed, and Kaiya, your bow and arrows have been tied one this side," She explained, patting Ken's side nearest to her, "As well as the Tetsusaiga with them."

__

'We're leaving already then…' And Kaiya found her eyes drifting back to the forest. _'How long am I going to be gone? Will I… come back?' _She bit her lip nervously, _'No! Don't think like that!'_ She pasted a soft smile on her face and thanked Ami for her help. Taking Ken's reins she walked to his side, intimidated a bit by the fact this was going to be done bareback for her.

He wasn't the tallest horse she had ever seen, and his breeding she couldn't sift through exactly on looks alone. Keeping the reins in her left hand she grabbed some mane, using her right hand to place on his back. With a firm push on her elbows (wincing as she forgot about the wound in her hand) she quickly brought her right leg up and over, thankful that Ami had given her a kimono with separate leg areas. She brushed some of her hair behind her ear, settling herself further up along his back until she was behind the shoulder blades. Had she not known how to do this she would have been bothered by the way Inuronin and Ami were watching her the whole time, but she had too many things on her mind anyhow.

The hanyou took a step forward, keeping in front of the horse, with his arms crossed against his chest. Ami took a step away from Ken and pointed out in the direction they were facing. "As I have told Inuronin, you will be heading out this way. Keep in this direction for a day or so, and you will find a village. You will be seeking out a flea youkai by the name of Myouga, he will know the secret to Tetsusaiga."

Kaiya nodded, "Thank you Ami very much for your help."

"Stop wasting time, let's go!" Inuronin spat before leaping into the air, already creating a distance between him and Kaiya. She frowned, only to have Ami walk behind Ken and give him a sharp slap on his haunches. Kaiya saw his neck extend, and after that she just gripped the reins with all her might. The ride felt awkward without stirrups of any kind, and Ken's backbone pressed into her for the sort of ride she was not used to… But she kept Inuronin's figure in sight as he leapt form tree to tree, her piece of the Shikon no Tama bouncing against her neck as it dangled from a thin chain.

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It must have been but half an hour when Kaiya began wondering yet again what was wrong with Inuronin. She understood he, naturally, did not have the most people-friendly personality… But he was outright ignoring her, his eyes always focused ahead. He had slowed down after some time, making it easier for Kaiya to follow after him, but besides that she had not received the slightest acknowledgment on his part. By now she was feeling frustrated, angry with him for making her come with him- and then to only ignore her! She wanted to know what was going on.

"Inuronin!" She called out, Ken's steady trot beneath her leaving her pronunciation slightly choppy. She received no response, but knew he had heard by the way his ears instantly turned back towards her. "What's wrong?"

Inuronin scowled before turning back to her, "Nothing," he retorted, with, "…wench," added softly as he faced forward once again.

Kaiya sighed, dropping her gaze to the forest in front of her. She wished he would talk to her, but she wasn't one to pry. Had Ami said something to Inuronin to put him in this mood? Had she done something without realizing it? She may be harboring some ill feelings towards him, but that was only because he had stopped her from returning home- she wanted to at least get along with him. _'And how am I supposed to do that if he doesn't pay any attention to me?'_

Irritated, with her legs' muscles already cramping, she started humming a song. At first it was from habit, to just hum when there was an empty silence (beside the beat of Ken's hooves and his steady breathing). But then, she realized what she was doing and, smiling, strengthened the tone to fill out her wordless sonnet. 

The hanyou, however, with his sharp hearing, could do anything but not hear her. At first he flinched his canine ears in annoyance, until he really listened. And he suddenly found himself curious.

Kaiya was patting Ken's neck with a free hand, when suddenly Inuronin was walking beside the horse, looking up at her. She blinked in surprise, instantly silencing her throat. Why was he looking at her like that?

When things returned to quiet, Inuronin turned to stare ahead as he spoke, trying to hide whatever curiousness he felt, "How did you do that?"

The girl watched him for a moment before catching on, "You mean, how did I hum?" _'How could he not know what humming is?'_

Inuronin shrugged, his brilliant golden eyes turning to stare at her unnervingly, "You made a noise, like purring…" He paused and seemed to think twice about something before continuing. "Is that another one of your miko powers?" And, after another pause, he added, "Seems like a waste of power if you ask me."

Kaiya blushed, finding herself embarrassed as she took his comments for truth. She had begun her humming with the assumption he would not say anything of it. Clenching the reins even tighter in her grip she stared ahead. "Anyone can hum. It's… not a wasted power. It's not a power at all" She said softly, hurt by his statement.

Sensing her sadness, Inuronin glanced at her. What was wrong now? This human had a whole range of emotions, yet it was as if she only chose to use certain ones, and, even more annoying, he always seemed to be the one bringing out her sadness.

He clenched his teeth together tightly in his jaws before leaping ahead of her again, making good use of his inhuman strengths 

Kaiya let loose a sigh of discouragement, choosing to just give up on him for a moment. Throwing aside her hurt feelings for the time being she took a minute to examine where she was. The forest they were traveling through was normal enough to her. The trees were tall, their leaves resting high up in their branches, and, where there were open gaps, rays of sunshine filled the emptiness. The ground was littered with leaves and the like, but it was actually rather pleasing to the eye- like a painting… but so natural.

She let her lips light up with a small quirk of a smile before closing her eyes as a breeze brushed by. A small tingle of refreshment lighted through her body, her dark tresses falling against her cheeks as the wind died back down. The next time she opened her eyes she caught Inuronin's gaze from ahead. He quickly turned around, bounding ahead once more, leaving Kaiya confused as usual. And, for the hundredth time, she sighed that day.

---------------------------------------

The day was drawing near to an end. It must have been some number of hours ago that Kaiya had given Ken a break and took her own turn walking. She had kept a grip on his reins while she followed after Inuronin mechanically, her mind wandering far away on spur of the moment thoughts. How was she supposed to concentrate on where she was now when she had a whole other world - a whole other _life - _back through the well?

Leaning her head back she gazed up through the canopy of the trees, their highest points seemed so far away, while for Inuronin it had to be but a jump away. Noticing that is was becoming harder and harder by the minute to distinguish Inuronin from the foliage around him (especially with his black cloak) she decided to speak up about resting for the night. She had given up hope long ago that she would be back at Ami's village for the night, even thinking that she might be back at her home through the well was a distant memory to her.

"Inuronin!"

The hanyou halted in his movements, ears coming alive with movement before looking back at her quickly. His golden eyes searched all around her before finally resting on her with an irritated look.

"What is it, human?"

Kaiya rolled her eyes, believing he wouldn't understand what that physical exclamation meant. _'You'd think by now that he'd call me by my name, but nooo…' _she thought to herself.

"Don't you think we should rest for the night? Ken's been worked all day, and it's getting harder to follow you when I can barely see you." She made of a point of, making sure not to complain about her own feet hurting since she was positive he'd make sure to sneer at _her_ weaknesses. She also noted that with the warmth of the sun gone from her the temperature seemed to be dropping faster and faster, finding herself shivering every now and then.

The silver-haired boy made a soft growling noise before dropping from the branch he was on to stand some yards in front of her. "That horse can work harder than you think." He retorted, but Kaiya noted with gladness that he did not go back to traveling. The half-youkai simply slumped down on the base of a tree, one of his knees bent upward while the other leg lay out straight in front of him. His arms crossed over his chest while he just sat there, eyes closed but obviously awake 

__

'Well he obviously has issues…' Ignoring him and whatever negative vibe she felt radiating from his body she looked around until she spotted a short tree, leading Ken over to it before taking hold of his bridle. She studied them a while before realizing that, on such an old form of one, there was no bit(*) for her to worry about. Turning her attention to the reins she took the end and began to make a loop. Once again she was thankful for her experience with horses as she made a crafty knot. If the horse pulled away from the tree it would remain in place, but by simply pulling on the bit of loose rein on the bottom the whole thing would come undone. The good part was that the horse rarely, if ever, figured this out. She was beginning to pat his neck as the stallion pulled some leaves from the tree before Inuronin spoke up.

"Why did you do that?" 

The girl turned to find the hanyou watching her, his eyes visible even in the dark.

"Do what?" she asked irritably, expecting and used to a blunt comment.

"Tie the horse to the tree?"

Kaiya motioned to the knot she had made with the reins, "Because if I don't then Ken could just run away anytime he felt like it." Inuronin really was predictable because she could tell what was coming by the stare he was giving her. As usual she had done something wrong.

"I don't know what type of fool horses your people use, but I know that creature doesn't need to be tied up. I only know that if we are attacked he's going to have a hell of a time protecting himself, and I'm not wasting my time to help any horse."

Kaiya felt her face heat up, and she knew he was right. Biting her lip in bitter frustration she pulled the knot undone, and even with no grip on him he remained where he was. Focusing on her work she simply removed the items he was carrying and lay them on the ground. Sifting through the various cloth bags she found herbs (for who knows what), corn cakes, some currency of coins she had never seen before, the Tetsusaiga (which she cursed for being the cause of all her problems), cold meat, bow and arrows, and finally a sealed jug of water. Taking the latter she poured some on Ken's back and rubbed him down, receiving a grateful nudge and snort from the equine. She noted with dismay that there wasn't that much water left in the jug so she made a note to remind Inuronin in the morning they would need to find more.

Taking two of the corn cakes she walked over to where Inuronin sat and held one out to him.

"Here," she offered.

"Don't want it."

Miffed by his curtness she returned to the saddlebags without another word and returned the one she offered to its place with the others. Examining the one she had left she ripped it in half and allowed Ken to take the portion from her, her fingers glad for the warmth from his breathing against the chill of the night.

Looking around her she settled for laying against a tree not far from Inuronin and Ken, liking to keep both in sight. She nibbled on the half of corn cake, finding that its taste was very subdued, before remembering something from earlier she had wanted to ask about.

"Inuronin?"

"What."

"Yesterday, when Ami gave us those bowls of that soupy stuff… What was the matter with it?" 

The silver-haired boy switched his gaze to some point to her left, seeming to just stare into space for a few moments.

"It had no scent."

Kaiya sat puzzled for a moment, but after thinking it over for a moment felt she understood. It was obvious he had a strong sense of smell, and for something to not have a scent period for him must be a very uncommon thing. She was actually feeling proud of herself for not having to question him over what he said, feeling that he would have patronized her for something like that.

The next few minutes that came passed in silence, although neither of them went even close to sleeping. The only noise that was heard was Ken as he tried to make himself more comfortable in a variety of ways, and Kaiya could also hear her own teeth chattering whenever a breeze came by. It was odd, she thought to herself, that such a sunny forest could be so cold. And, actually, for a moment, she felt like she saw something _beyond_ the forest. This _beyond _she saw was a mountainous region with snow falling everywhere, but she did not question herself about it and instead tried to focus on something beside her discomfort. Shaking the thoughts and images from her mind she looked back to Inuronin in hopes of distracting herself from it.

"Inuronin… can you tell me more about the Shikon no Tama?"

The boy's golden eyes focused on her, his ears flickering as if to catch the syllables. He looked uncomfortable for a moment until he finally answered.

"The Shikon no Tama is a jewel. It was made by a human priestess called Midoriko. When there was a great battle between her and youkai, she sacrificed herself to contain the souls of her and the youkai in a stone form, which is the Shikon no Tama. Their souls are still fighting in the jewel, and that is what gives it its power."

Kaiya let that soak in, figuring that was a very much cut down version of the whole story. "How come you say I have to destroy it then? If it's a jewel, and can obviously be broken," she pointed out, fingering her own shard of the Shikon no Tama around her neck, "Why not get someone who at least knows what's going on…"

Inuronin's ears flinched and Kaiya felt surprised to find he was now avoiding her gaze, but always keeping a hard look on his face.

"What?" She asked, wondering why he was acting so strangely, but she received no answer. 

"Well, I mean, as long as I don't have to lose an arm or leg to get rid of the thing I guess it won't hurt." She laughed to herself, but Inuronin only watched her. Controlling her laughter she lowered her head back down as her gaze met his, but he only looked away as soon as she did. He wasn't telling her something, she could feel it.

"Inuronin, why don't you talk to me? There's obviously something you're not telling me."

The half-human, half-youkai closed his eyes as he folded his hands into the long sleeves of his haori. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, Inuronin, I do! Please, if you're going to make me do this stupid trip with you- which is obviously risking my own life- I would at least like to know I'm able to get along with you!"

His ears flickered back from her voice, and he only dropped his chin lower to his chest, although his golden eyes did open to see her. "Go to sleep." That was a command, Kaiya could tell by the authority he put into his words. She frowned as he only closed his eyes to her again.

"I will not! Just _talk_ to me, something's wrong more than what you've told me and I have a right to know!"

"I said, _go to sleep_!"

And there it was. Kaiya bit her lip. He sounded like Yukio… and suddenly her insides quivered and she obeyed him, wondering how she ever had even the thought to argue with him. Inuronin could actually kill her, and here she was trying to pry into his thoughts. Hadn't she learned anything from Yukio? _What made Inuronin any different from him? _She felt her eyes water up at the thought of Yukio… what trouble had he gotten himself into because she had not met up with him last night?

Turning on her side she lay her head down on a root of the tree she was in front of. She was about to shiver and curse the cold wind that had just blown through, but suddenly there was a flapping noise and her world went dark as some cloth landed on her. Propping herself slowly up on an elbow she grabbed the black cloth, finding it familiar but she couldn't place from where. Her gaze drifted up to find Inuronin watching her (and missing his cloak), with a slightly pink tint of color to his cheeks no matter how hard he tried to make himself sound indifferent.

"You've been cold. I can tell… and I didn't mean to yell. Just don't cry, I can't stand it when girls cry."

Kaiya watched him as he closed his eyes once again, the blush on his cheeks still there. And, somehow, she couldn't stay angry with him. Right in front of her as the difference between Inuronin and Yukio. 

"Thank you, Inuronin…" She replied, laying back down, "Sorry for getting so angry. Good night."

She missed his lip quirking up into a small smile before hardening once more.

---------------------------------------

Kaiya woke to a sense of foreboding, and something terribly different. She was freezing. Not like last night, but it felt as though she had stayed out in a snow storm all night with nothing on. On top of that she _felt_ like she was being watched, yet she couldn't bring herself to open her eyes. She was frightened. Clutching Inuronin's cloak tighter around herself she made herself do it. _'Okay… I can't break a promise… So, on the count of three, I promise to open my eyes… One. Two…'_

She opened her eyes to find three things. First of all, she wasn't in a forest- she was on a mountain. Next, it was snowing. Lastly, there was a pair of golden eyes watching her. 

She sat up slowly, pulling the black cloth she was using tight around her shoulder. 

Since when was she on a mountain? And why was it so like the one she had seen in _beyond_ the forest? Her gaze met once more with the golden eyes. Inuronin was the only person she had ever seen with golden eyes, yet somehow she knew it wasn't him. The snow lightened and suddenly she could see more clearly. The person watching her looked much like Inuronin, long white hair, sleek golden eyes, but his ears were like a human's, just pointed, and he held an air of dignity while Inuronin felt more wild. His clothing was white and baggy, and across his shoulder was some sort of boa… And he looked completely out of sorts there on the mountain while at the same time looking like he ran the place.

She normally would have spoken to him, but she couldn't find her voice. The eyes watching her narrowed and the man turned from her. Kaiya looked for Inuronin, but she couldn't see him anywhere. She felt her heart fall, feeling like she had been abandoned once more.

"Inuronin."

Her eyes went back to the man who had turned from her. He was just standing there, wind billowing his hair out behind him as his eyes looked around slowly. His voice was low and smooth… _'And is filled with hatred…_' Kaiya felt. She wasn't sure why, but back in this time with Inuronin it was like she could feel people's emotions much more clearly.

"You are still here, and it seems you have not changed much from Inuyasha to try an ambush like some wild animal."

There was a flash of red above in the trees before Kaiya saw Inuronin land lightly on his feet some feet in front of her. She stood up slowly, not sure why she felt so relieved that he was with her. Perhaps she just didn't want to be alone with whoever this other man was.

"Disgusting, how alike you are."

Inuronin's ears flinched before he cracked his knuckles at his sides, fingers flexing like that of a lion's paw preparing for a fight.

"Another human girl, no doubt the reincarnation of that other."

Kaiya saw the half-youkai in front of her visibly tense up, this was obviously striking a chord within him. 

"Just like my dead younger brother you cannot wait for the fight. Strike me, so I may kill my mistake."

__

'What does he mean?' Before she could even think for an answer Inuronin was flying through the air straight for the man, arm outstretched with his wrist pulled back, ready to snap back down and pull his claws along with it. The man, however, simply moved out of the way. Inuronin landed behind him, turning around to find his opponent having drawn out a sword. It was pulsing red.

"The Toukijin."

That was all the tall warrior said before slashing it through the air in his direction. He was no where near being close enough to actually hit Inuronin, yet the hanyou was pushed back and an opened wound suddenly cut across his body. The boy's hand went up to hold near his shoulder as a dark liquid began to coat his fingers.

"You Bastard, what kind of cheap sword is that?!" Inuronin barked out.

The fight continued though. Inuronin leaping for the man but always being pushed away by the sword, and every time this happened another wound opened up on him, no matter whether the sword touched him or not. 

As Kaiya watched in horrid fascination Inuronin drew back his bloodied hand.

"_«Hijin Kessou!»_" (**)

Sweeping his hand in a wide arc, blade shaped daggers of light shot at his opponent, sending him in a leap to avoid the hits. When they hit the ground dirt flew, leaving gorges like a knife stab in their wake. Inuronin was still bleeding badly though, and the fight was not going his way. 

No words were spoken between the combatants, it was as if they understood each other, _knew_ each other. Kaiya did not doubt that. There was obviously something going on in their heads. 

Inuronin was suddenly crashing through a mound of snow, his blood smearing its purity to crimson. He didn't get back up. 

__

'I have got to help. Even if I can't run as fast or jump as high…' She should have been scared, and she was - but she reminded herself what had happened to the spider youkai before and determination rose within her spirit, watering the lack of courage to sprout bravery. 

The man was preparing another run through at Inuronin, and she felt like if she didn't do something he'd be killed. As she realized all the blood of his she had allowed to be shed without even bothering to help she felt tears rush to her eyes. She ran, stumbling over the cold terrain, Inuronin's cloak still clutched around her. Their attacker paused at seeing her stopping in front of his target, though no emotion spread across his face. His golden eyes pierced her own.

"Do not defend him."

Kaiya couldn't feel the cold anymore. She was only angry at this man in front of her, and at herself. Her body felt on fire, and it was going to be too late before she realized this as a warning sign. Her emotions were taking over.

"Stop fighting!" She erupted, her voice much more mature sounding than her usual one.

Her enemy simply drew back his sword, slashing it in a perfect half circle in her direction. It should have killed a normal human, but on Kaiya the pressure of air meant to slice her just as if the cold metal had actually touched her instead stopped in front of her. As if she had known all along what to do she raised her hands in front of her and looked at them. _'Just like with the spider youkai…'_ They were glowing with a pink light, the glare growing stronger every second. She didn't bother or even think about the bow and arrows Ami had provided her with. Her gaze drifted up to her opponent, and that was the last thing she saw. The power surrounding her hands grew like a giant bubble, pushing back every tainted spirit around her. As it surrounded her further, the edges of her vision blurred until she couldn't tell anything about her whereabouts anymore.

She blacked out.

------------------------------Chapter End

*bit : _The metal mouthpiece of a bridle, serving to control, curb, and direct an animal. _(from dictionary.com --- this does not hurt the horse as long as it is done in the proper way. A not proper way? = jerking the reins etc). On some forms of bridles, such as the one Kaiya was using on Ken, because there is no bit, when the rein is pulled the pressure is applied to the muzzle directly. 

**words place in "«»" are going to be Japanese attack names- it's not part of a conversation (in the English dub _Hijin Kessou _is "Blades of Blood")

The chapter wasn't supposed to end there, but it'll have to do… I just wanted to get this update up before some other bad thing happens… =\ Reviews are welcome… but money is even better ;) ((j/k))


	7. Family Reunion II: Brutalities

Disclaimer: Inuyasha does not belong to me… it would be too strange if it did anyway

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AN:

Eh-heh.. Yea, this is way, _way_,_ waaaaay_ past due. I'm so sorry.. Lo siento.. Gomen… What language do you want me to say it in? =/ This piece of junk computer up and decides to kill Microsoft Word on me, then not opening anything I saved on disk. So, I had this chapter almost done.. And guess what? I lose everything I had written. Now, seriously, that's frustrating. So it sort of killed my will to write for some period of time, I was quite mad….. And Microsoft word still wasn't being nice for me. Then there's vacation time included in all of that… sigh bleh... but, now I get to make up for it =) I've been writing so much these past days.. It's like the computer is my home now, lol. Anywho… on with a very much late chapter 7 ;;

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Fate Gave Three

By Areine

__

Chapter 7: Family Reunion II: Brutalities

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Inuronin's blood pounded through his head, his heartbeat turning irregular. From beneath closed lids his eyes began to leak through with crimson coloring, pupils morphing to be just a sliver of a normal size. His youkai nature, the blood from his father that made him more than human, with its instinct of self-preservation, was kicking in and beginning to push out his human blood. This was not the first time this had happened, but far from it. At first, when he was younger, he may have tried to fight it, but now his body welcomed the surge of wild power his youkai blood brought him when it took over… But this time, before the transfusion was completed, power radiated off of the girl Kaiya in a wave of unplanned action. With what magic she couldn't control, it rolled though the area, connecting with Inuronin and immediately forcing his youkai blood back into dormancy. Even as the power from Kaiya faded, and the girl slumped into unconsciousness, the blood did not rise again. Inuronin's heartbeat turned more shallow, beating with its regular pattern. His mind began to wake… His youkai blood back into balance with his human side.

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Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes, staring back into the clearing where that girl had lost control over herself. She was a miko, just as the first two from before were. The purifying wave of energy that had pushed itself out of her had immediately triggered the movement to jump out of range in him. This was not something he had seen before in anyone. He walked forward, face passive as he studied the girl on the ground. She did not seem to be carrying anything of importance, except for a shard of the jewel around her neck, but he knew somehow the power came from her alone. To his left he caught the sound of his son awakening from whatever trance he had been in. His molten eyes flickered over to him, holding no care nor feeling of responsibility for Inuronin.

The hanyou who so much resembled his father stood shakily to his feet, fangs bared as he flexed his claws. Silence hung in the air between them, Inuronin's temper boiling over the fact the youkai in front of him did nothing.

"Hell with this! Fight me!" He barked out, lupine ears trained on Sesshoumaru.

The youkai made no movement, "You seek to use this girl to destroy the Sacred Jewel." He spoke calmly, somehow managing to make even that sound patronizing.

"And what would that have to do with you? Attack me already!"

Sesshoumaru made no acknowledgement to his words, "Then you know what she must do, and you do not care for her?"

Inuronin let out a growl, straightening himself as he realized their fight would not finish itself now. "Why the hell _would_ I care?"

A tinge of amusement passed through the youkai's golden eyes, before hardening once more. "Naraku has possessed the leaders of human villages, you have been fool enough to trust one, and so Naraku sent you here in the hopes I would kill you. But I will not follow through with his bidding. I, Sesshoumaru, am not a servant to his whims as many in this world have fallen."

Inuronin moved to say something, but Sesshoumaru continued, "Take this girl and leave. Do what you will - but, Naraku's death is mine, I have matters to settle with him. Touch him and I will not show mercy to you."

"Keh! Like Hell you could stop me…"

Sesshoumaru's cold gaze left his face as he turned, leaving Inuronin and the fainted girl alone.

Once his father was out of view Inuronin bit his lip with his fang, placing a clawed hand to his stomach as blood seeped through his clothing. His nose sensed more blood however, some which was not his own, and which was definitely not human nor youkai. Irritated, he looked around the area for the source of the scent until he found what he sought. Some distance away from Kaiya was the stallion she had been riding, it lay on its side, blood caked around it's muzzle where there was a long cut from the middle of his ears down to between his nostrils. _'The bone must of shattered…'_ Not bothering to wonder when that had happened, he moved over to Kaiya, her ribs rising and falling with her shallow breathing.

__

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Inuronin stopped at the edge of the village, Kaiya in his arms where she remained asleep. Apparently she had wasted away her energy all in one moment by exhausting her uncontrolled powers. He paused, cursing the girl as he wondered what to do with her. He was going to confront Ami and whatever possessed her, but where could he put her that was some place safe?

"Dammit all…" he grumbled to himself.

The wind shifted and suddenly a new scent reached his nose. _'Youkai…'_ Clutching Kaiya tighter he leapt from the ground just in time for a hideous mole-like man to cut across where he had just stood with a glistening scythe. When the youkai saw he had struck empty air a sputtering hiss rumbled through his throat.

"Are you the bastard controlling the old woman in this village?"

The youkai looked up to find Inuronin standing on a thick tree branch, disgust written all over the hanyou's face. It spread its mouth wide in a slobbering grin, holding the scythe erect at his side.

"Meiji I am, come to kill you I have!" He crouched before springing up into the air and seeming to hover for a moment as he swung his scythe once more. Inuronin had already jumped out of the way however as he moved to another tree branch. Meiji hissed in disapproval before falling back to the ground. A long, snake-like tongue ran over his fangs as his pure white eyes caught sight of Inuronin once more.

"You are fast, yes you are, but that will not save you and the female."

The white-haired hanyou clenched his fangs, "Try me you filth!"

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Kaiya stirred in Inuronin's arms, a sharp pain in her head and on each hand making her wince. _'What is this… the hundredth time I've fainted since I came here…?'_ She felt the air sucked from her lungs as her stomach dropped at the same time she heard a light thud. She could feel arms holding her tightly, the unmistakable voice of Inuronin's cursing told her whose they were. _'What's going on?'_

"Inuronin?" She questioned, suddenly finding her voice, eyes wide as she looked up into the face of the hanyou.

His golden eyes flickered down to her, relief and irritation flooding in them at the same time. "Dammit bitch! Took you long enough!"

Kaiya winced as she felt her stomach suddenly lurch again. Now that she was awake she squirmed in his grasp, "What's going on? …My head is killing me!"

The hanyou tightened his grip on her, "Stop moving! The youkai who's possessing Ami is out of his right mind…"

"Ami was possessed?!" Kaiya whispered, horrified. Inuronin didn't respond as he set her down behind a tree.

"Don't move, _at all_," he ordered before leaping away and drawing Meiji's attention away from where Kaiya was. She frowned, rubbing her temple to ease the pain.

"What is going on… And… what happened to your father…"

Suddenly awareness blazed in her, her senses telling her of a power not too far off. Her eyes snapped wide open, but she hesitated to stand. _'There's something out there… but he told me to stay here.'_ Sudden rebellion seemed to sweep through her, a cloud of resolve settling heavy around her. _'But… it has to be something…'_

Peeking her head around the tree trunk quickly, she saw he was still engaged heavily in battle. Finding an open moment she shot forward, following her mind's eye as to where the power was coming from. As she felt something bumping against her leg, she looked down to push it off in agitation, only to find that somehow the sword Tetsusaiga was hanging from her waist. Momentarily confused she didn't spend the time to question it as she hurried forward, the power not too far off now.

As she entered a small clearing she sensed the power was there, but as she looked around she saw nothing. Surveying the small area she felt her nerves getting the best of her, fear seeming to swell around her like humid air. Bringing one clenched hand in front her of chest she circled around, wondering what had drawn her here, until her foot suddenly came into contact with something that felt like a solid wall.

Surprised, she looked down, only to see a small clay, corked shut jar near her. Crouching down she examined it with her eyes, dimly aware that the power was radiating from this. She reached her hand out to touch it, only to find there was some invisible wall around it that protected it. Furrowing her brows she applied as much pressure as she could to the invisible force, but found she could not push through it. Having an idea, she pulled the Tetsusaiga from her side and raised it, point down, before stabbing the invisible wall with one fluid motion. Nothing happened. She raised it up again, unaware of the glow beginning to radiate off the inside of her palms as her frustration grew. The next time she dropped it down it went straight through as if nothing was there, shattering the pot instantly. Silvery smoke rose from its broken pieces and flew over her shoulder before disappearing. She felt the ground around where the pot had been. _'That was it?'_ She wondered, almost feeling disappointed as the power she had sensed was erased from feeling just as the pot had broken.

A shadow suddenly loomed over her, and she felt her heart tumble into her throat. Her breath hitched as she swung herself around on the ground, the youkai Meiji glaring down at her, scythe outstretched to his right side, showing he was ready to slice her in half.

"You stupid girl!" He hissed, "You have broken it! The last of the miko blood is _mine_ to kill!"

His glaring white eyes, without pupils and haunting, froze her where she sat, pure horror etched clearly across her face. Just as his hand began to swing, a red blur shot in front of her from her right, and the scythe was suddenly dropped as a scream of pain raked through the forest. Inuronin had latched onto his arm, one clawed hand tight around his wrist, the other on the youkai's elbow, as his fangs were sunk deep into the middle of the arm. His eyes flashed wildly, a feral energy radiating off the hanyou.

Meiji tried uselessly to pull his arm away, but to no avail. He swatted at Inuronin's head with his free arm, banging his fist on the hanyou's tender ears repeatedly, curses flowing from his mouth. Kaiya felt tears rise in her eyes as she wondered how much pain Inuronin was already in. He was fighting this youkai as if he was actually a dog… Standing to her feet hastily she grabbed Meiji's abusive arm, circling his wrist with her hands and pulling on it while he tried to beat Inuronin off him. The youkai's face turned to her and he flung his arm out, throwing the girl back onto the ground. Whatever he was going to try and do next, Meiji only let out another cry of rage as Inuronin deepened his fangs' hold in the youkai's arm, a sharp crack sounding through the area, unmistakably the shattering of bone. As soon as it was done Inuronin released his jaw's hold and flung the man into a tree, stepping in front of Kaiya as a deadly look remained on his face.

Meiji clenched his teeth together, blood pouring from his right arm. "You bastard! You'll pay for being the dog that you are, worthless half-breed!"

Inuronin cracked his knuckles before lunging forward, hand outstretched as his claws pierced straight through the youkai's chest, right where his heart was. Meiji let out a gurgling hiss, slumping down against the tree, his white eyes flooding into bloodshot pools of scarlet. His chest stopped rising, body lifeless as Inuronin drew his hand back out. From the hole in the heart of the youkai, a silvery gas lifted into the air before disappearing into the forest…

Kaiya's heart was pounding in her chest, this was just not something she was used to dealing with on such a regular basis. Inuronin turned and looked at her, the wild gleam diminished from his eyes and replaced with fury.

__

'Oh… I forgot… now he's going to be mad at me…' Kaiya felt the heat rising to her cheeks as she looked away, idly fiddling with her fingers. "Um… Thank you?" She spoke timidly, hoping Inuronin would see she knew she had messed up (badly), and that he would spare her of a lecture. Unfortunately, that's not how the hanyou's mind worked.

"Do you just never listen to me? You do the dumbest things of any girl I've ever met! What the Hell is wrong with you? Do you just enjoy endangering your life all the time?!" He barked out at her, stepping to stop just a foot or so in front of her.

Guilt swept through her as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I - uh…"

"And this wasn't the first time! And what the hell was with you earlier? Jumping in front of Sesshoumaru like that! What the HELL was that about?!"

Suddenly attacked with so many accusations, rebellious and defensive feelings once more lived within her. "You guys wouldn't stop fighting! You were getting hurt - what was I _supposed _to do, just sit and watch?"

"Well you sure weren't supposed to do whatever you did! Let _me_ handle the fighting!"

Kaiya crossed her arms, "Fine, but that doesn't mean I'm just going to not do anything if I think you need help."

"There will never be a day I need a human to help me in a fight!" He said arrogantly, "Just don't worry about it, hell, I'm not going to just up and die without _your_ help."

"Well I could say the same thing! I'm not going to just die without _you_ around!" She retorted, feeling flustered and angry at the same time.

"Keh, sure looks like it to me…" He ducked his head when she swatted at him. He studied her a moment before asking, "You're not hurt are you?"

Kaiya tensed some of her muscles, besides a few cramps everything seemed to be okay, she watched him warily. "Yeah… I'm fine…"

"Good," and before she could do anything she felt her legs swept out from beneath her, landing flat on her back. She blinked up at the forest's canopy, catching her breath for a moment.

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'That… that jerk!' Kaiya pushed herself up with her hands, "Hey! What was that for?!"

Inuronin was smirking down at her, arms crossed against his chest. "Just proving a point, let's go."

Kaiya huffed, standing back up. What 'point' was he talking about? This was the guy that had just killed someone? Frowning she quickened her pace to catch up with him as he turned and walked away, headed back towards the village.

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The girl pushed the creamy rice mixture around in her bowl with the chopsticks Ami had given to her. They had come back to the village to find that Ami was her real self now. Apparently, the jar Kaiya had broken was what contained her real soul, thus giving Kaiya a good reason to cast Inuronin a smug glare. It had been awkward that they needed to reintroduce themselves to her at first, when she felt like she already knew her to at least some point. At the moment Ami was questioning Inuronin on what had happened (as Kaiya had been unconscious for quite some time and wasn't able to answer much). She had tried to get him to let her tend to his wounds but he had out right refused her help.

Through bouts of letting her mind wander and trying to focus on what they were saying, Kaiya was caught off guard when Ami suddenly addressed her, shyly answering her question and telling her all she knew about whatever powers she seemed to not have control over, the ones that always seemed to come out through her hands. Ami, afterwards, simply nodded her head, stoking the fire in front of her thoughtfully.

"I have not seen Ken…" Ami noted quietly.

Kaiya's eyes widened slightly, "Oh… I don't remember seeing him when Sesshoumaru came… and I haven't seen him since then…"

"The horse was killed," Inuronin stated, voice void of obvious emotion.

Kaiya looked up at him, a sheen of tears quickly covering her eyes, "Ken… but I didn't tie him up! I really did listen to you…"

"For once," the hanyou pointed out, eyes accusing as he watched her.

Kaiya dropped her gaze, heat rushing to her face as her fingers shook. Why was she getting so emotional over Ken? He was just a horse after all… But he had been her responsibility… For the next few minutes silence ensued, allowing Kaiya's thoughts to digress.

Memories of her own home began to drift through her mind, and the more she thought of that place the more she missed it. It just wasn't fair to keep her here… And with Ami here, maybe Inuronin would listen to her? She waited for them to finish talking, not really paying attention to whatever Ami was instructing the hanyou about. She lifted her brown eyes when silence settled down for a moment, catching Inuronin's gaze.

"I was thinking… I've been here for a while," she looked from Inuronin to Ami to gauge their reactions with where she was obviously taking this. Ami looked passive about the whole idea, while Inuronin's eyes were narrowing suspiciously at her. "And… I would really like to go home…"

The hanyou immediately opened his mouth, "Why the hell would you need to go back?"

"Because I have a family and a life over there, Inuronin!" She cried out desperately. Who knew what was going on in her own time? "What, do you expect me to stay until that Jewel you were talking about is destroyed?"

For some reason unknown to Kaiya, the hanyou went quiet at that question. She raised an eyebrow, "Well?"

"Inuronin, she does have a right," Ami chided gently.

Inuronin whipped his head to glare at the elderly woman, giving her a 'why-aren't-you-siding-with-_me_?' look, Kaiya smiling lightly in triumph.

"So… Inuronin?" Kaiya said, her voice dripping with sweetness as elation filled from within her.

"_Keh_! Fine, go back to your home… But be sure as _hell_ if you don't come back soon I'll drag you back straight here! We don't have time for this…" He grouched, canine ears twitching in agitation as he closed his eyes, arms stiff against his chest in their crossed position.

"And, really, I shouldn't need _permission_ to go back to my home… as coming here was an accident anyway," before the hanyou could make the comment that was on the tip of his tongue, Kaiya continued, "Anyway… I'll be back in a few days or so…"

"What? You're leaving, _now_?" Inuronin questioned roughly.

"Yes, I am," Kaiya stated firmly.

He made no further response.

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Kaiya rubbed her finger sadly as she walked down the path to her home. When she had returned to the well she couldn't find the ring her father had given her anywhere. She closed her eyes, blocking out tears that wanted to fall. She had lost her only connection…

People gave her strange glances as she passed, but she didn't care what they thought of her strange kimono that was terribly out-of-date. Her happiness to be home outweighed anything… She just wanted to see her mother.

Inuronin had threatened to come and snatch her back if she didn't go back through the well soon… How long would it be before he tried to cross over? She lowered her face, bangs covering her eyes. She felt guilty… Not because she was home, but because she didn't want to go back. She didn't know if she would even try… Were not Ami's very words that she would need the power of this jewel shard she held to pass through the well? Inuronin didn't have one… So what made him so confident? Kaiya frowned, _'Well he does seem pretty arrogant about his abilities.'_ He had reminded her coldly to leave the Tetsusaiga behind, as if over night he would be able to figure out how to use it… Her brows crossed together, _'Stupid jerk.'_

Her thoughts twisted back to her home, to her mother… And to Yukio. She flinched, she had failed in meeting him that one night… If something had happened to him, it was all her fault…

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"Next time, stay out of it." Inuronin said in irritation, standing to his feet from inside Ami's home.

"Stay out of what Inuronin?" The elderly woman questioned.

"You sided with that girl, and now she's going back home," he responded, "Now she's probably gotten the idea she doesn't have to come back…" He walked to the door, already beginning to sweep it aside when Ami commented further.

"Be careful, Inuronin." She called softly.

His golden eyes narrowed before looking back down at her, "With what, old woman?"

"You have tricked yourself into thinking you don't care about others… But I would not take your situation with Kaiya lightly, you will only hurt her and yourself in the end."

The hanyou rolled his eyes, "Damn you're a crazy old bat…"

"Do not let pride take over your heart."

A sarcastic grin flitted across his mouth, "Who said I had one of those?" before walking out the door. He sneered, one fang catching on his lip as the villagers that were out quickly hurried away. Shaking his head in frustration he made his way to the forest, refusing to stay in this human infested village for the night.

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"Mama?" Kaiya called, closing the door behind her as she entered her house. A weary smile was across her face, her fingers dragging across the wall as she felt its texture, the feeling of being safe finally hitting her as she looked over all the well recognized decorations. Sliding her feet out of the wooden sandals Ami had lent her, she walked further into the house.

Her arrival was only met with silence though, her smile dieing slowly as she let out a sigh. Walking into the living room she fell back onto one of their couches, pale yellow with streaming blue flowers patterned across it. Balancing her elbows on her knees, and her face in her hands, memories of the past days swarmed through her head, wondering what Inuronin was doing right now… Where Mama was, if Yukio was okay…

Footsteps were suddenly sounding on the wooden floor in the hallway, and Kaiya lifted her head. Looking behind her a man suddenly appeared, shoulders tense as he surveyed the area to find her.

"Kaiya! Where have you _been_?" He questioned, walking over to her, "And _what_ are you wearing?"

A gasp escaped the girl's throat, her eyes beginning to shimmer with tears. Her brother… "Taro!" she cried, standing up hastily to embrace him in a hug. He blinked in surprise for a moment before returning it, wondering what had happened… If it was that Yukio boy again… His fists clenched where they were.

Taking back her arms she brushed at her eyes, looking up at her elder brother. His deep, chestnut eyes were looking down at her, set into a gentle face with a noticeable tan. His black hair was shaved, as, like his father, he had joined the army.

"You wouldn't believe…" Kaiya began, unsure of how to tell him about the well at all. "Oh, it's such a long story… Where's Mama?" She looked around the room, as if expecting the woman to suddenly appear, "And… why are you here?" She continued, eyebrows pulled down slightly as she spoke, confusion in her eyes.

Taro looked down at her sadly, "Mom isn't home right now… But we've been worried sick…" He sighed, taking her elbow gently as he led her back to being seated on the couch. "And… I was beginning to worry whether or not I'd get to see you before I was called out…"

Kaiya stiffened, leaning back from him as if burned by his words. "What - what do you mean?" Her brown eyes searched his face, ebony locks of hair brushing against her cheeks as the movement of her body caused them to shift from where they were behind her ears.

Her brother sighed, "With the war, it still going on and all, my division is being called out."

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'Deep breathes… breathe… just because he's going off doesn't mean… doesn't mean things will turn out the way they did with dad…' Sadness built up in her, as well as anger. The war had started years ago. It began when a man came forward with an idea for global unity, and slowly people began following after him in that idea. The alliance didn't discriminate against any country, but many people hated the idea. Japan had never fully joined, but had instead worked on its relations dealing with foreign affairs. Many areas throughout the country had gone through the change of not having year-round school, which was the only reason she was here now. But that wasn't all… Some people just saw this as spreading people-friendly communism, made to look good but in the end the only thing it would bring to everyone was political enslavement. That was when the war had started.

"I'm leaving in two days," Taro told her, softly. He knew how much it hurt Kaiya when her father died serving the country. He just hoped she would never have to go through the same things again with his circumstance.

"Please, don't go…" She whispered, voice weakened with emotion. Her hands clenched the fabric of her kimono in her lap as she pleaded him with her eyes. Her mind knew it wouldn't work to beg him like this, but her heart wanted to try. She had just come home… Why did she need to hear this, now?

"I can't… and this, this is an honor. To serve the country, and to know I'm following in Dad's footsteps."

"And look where he ended up! Taro! Do you really want to do this?" A tear slid from her eye, paused on the rise of her cheek, then slowly fell the rest of the way down.

He nodded, "This is something I feel I need to do…" The corner of his lip quirked up, "And… you know, I'd feel a lot better about this if I knew you were back here supporting me…" His eyes watched hers hopefully.

Her lips curled, a pained look coming across her face, "Of course."

He drew her forward, arms wrapping around her as she let tears fall onto his shoulder. A bitter smile was on her face as she choked out with dry humor, "You're all grown up now…" He chuckled in response.

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There was a knock on the door, Taro's voice coming in to Kaiya's ears, "Mom's going to be here in bout ten or so minutes… Might want to hurry up."

"Alright, I'm almost finished…" She called back, sighing in disappointment as she stood in the shower, wishing she could just stay there for a few more hours… As she rinsed through her hair one more time she wondered to herself whether or not Mama and Taro would actually believe her story about traveling through the well. Was the shard of that jewel she still had considered proof of anything? Or maybe the clothes? She sighed, turning off the water as she stepped out and wrapped a tower around herself. Walking to stand in front of the mirror she ran her fingers through her ebony hair, allowing the warm steam left over from the shower to help ease her muscles. Going through the well had not been kind to her body…

She padded lightly down the staircase, feeling very refreshed…

"_KAIYA_!!!"

She stopped in her tracks, ears ringing as her eyes went wide. Wow that woman had a voice… Turning around she saw her mother almost running towards her, arms spread to embrace her daughter.

"Kaiya where on _Earth_ have you been?"

She returned the hug kindly, seeing Taro silently laughing from over her shoulder.

"Mama… Let's go in and eat… it's sort of a long story…"

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Excuse any typos/errors in the writing.. I have checked over it, but the story is only a rough draft for me so far. Once all the chapters are out, I'm going to filter back through all of them and fix what I think needs fixing..

The name Taro just means "eldest brother" or "first son" or something like that in Japanese.. I had it picked out a while ago for his name, so I don't remember the exact definition.

Hm.. The next chapter should be out soon, and, again, I'm sorry, again, it took me so long..

However. If you have a problem with the time it takes me to update, don't be vulgar with me, you have no idea what is going on in a person's life when you actually leave a review like that, and I was highly offended by the person who left that review.. I'm flattered you wanted the next chapter out badly enough that you would do that.. But, please, don't cuss, it's actually so much more effective to getting me to update if you just ask me kindly… =)

Toodles until the next chapter all

Note: And for those of you yet unaware, or who have just forgotten, you are able to go to my profile-thingy to watch the progress of my story's chapters, and any news I have about it.


	8. Home Sweet Home Or Not

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha and all that good stuff… you get the point.

AN:

--listens to "I Can't Explain" by _K-otic--_

=) Writing spree! XD Hehe… I'm excited to write this… I wanna get to the good stuff in the story… lol. --giggles stupidly specially the ending--… -.-;; But then I'll be sad cause the story is over… and I won't get to write it anymore =( But… A sequel might be possible… Haven't really decided… the ending is going to be sort of "angst-y" or however you want to call it.. So I don't know if I should write a sequel, and work things out in that one… or just let you guys, the readers sort of work out what happens in your own mind… Comments on this would be helpful =/ Cause I'm not sure what to do.. Course, maybe I should just let you guys see the ending first.. - Oh, and you can email me now cause I put my email address up on my author's profile... I meant to do that a while ago when some of you asked… but… I forgot……--blinks-- eh-heh…

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--clears throat BUTLER!!!--

butler appears with silver platter

Thank you, butler…

--takes silver platter and lifts top--

--presents you with chapter 8--

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Fate Gave Three

By Areine

Chapter 8: Home Sweet Home - Or Not

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In the feudal time of Japan, Inuronin's time, there was a mountain carefully concealed away from all people and youkai. The dark energy radiating from the castle nestled into the geography was enough to keep anyone with common sense away, but there was also the fact that it was obvious _nothing_ lived there. Vegetation was scarce, and what plant life you could find was already withered. The only sign of animals one would be able to find would be a broken skeleton… And it was known among the people that any person to step foot into the dark aura would not come back out. The castle was home of Naraku, the youkai Lord, and no one crossed his path unless there was an order, from him, to do so.

Inside of that castle, was the that very man, Naraku, his foul mood enough to keep his servants away for the time being. It was whispered among the youkai who served him that to approach him when he was in such a manner was certain death.

One youkai in particular, however, had known Naraku too long to be intimidated still by him.

Kagura walked through the dark hallways of the castle, her destination to find Naraku, her dark captor. So many years had passed and still he controlled her, he still held her heart in his hands. Never letting her die, never giving her what she wanted, never giving her more power than what she already had. She hated the man from the bottom of her soul, everyone knew it, and yet he still kept her…

She paused in front of a large door, glaring at it angrily before lifting her fan that she held in her right hand. Her powerful red eyes narrowed before she sliced her hand through the air, aiming the fan at the door as she watched in small satisfaction for it to be ripped apart.

"Kagura… I do believe there will be no more doors left if you insist to open them that way."

The woman folded her fan tartly, entering the room that Naraku sat in. The vile Lord was sitting next to a window, elbow resting on one propped up knee has he surveyed outside.

"Your plan failed. Sesshoumaru knew you were behind his son's appearance, and now Meiji is dead," she told him coldly.

A small, hapless smile raised the lips on the youkai, owner of the Shikon no Tama. "That, Kagura, only makes things more interesting."

"What are you planning?" She questioned, red lips pursed together.

He turned to her, smirking with authority, "Ah, but you know I can't tell you that. Your loyalty to me Kagura continues to waver, such a pity."

On that last word Kagura let out a sharp gasp, her left hand rising to clutch at the cloth of her kimono that was around her heart. Perspiration built on her forehead as the pain in her chest increased. Breathing began to trouble her and she collapsed to her knees, rasping for breath, eyes wide with surprise and hate.

"Bastard.._!!_" She hissed, before the pain vanished.

"Get out of my sight," Naraku commanded coolly, looking away from her once more.

The wind youkai clenched her teeth together, turning and quickly leaving the room. Around her wind swirled with such force that the boards of wood splintered and tore. She would have her day… She swore to that. Naraku would not control her forever. _She_ was Kagura, she was as free as the wind, and no one could hold onto that forever.

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"Kaiya, I don't want you going back to that well - ever," the girl's mother told her from across the table, eyes filled with concern for her daughter.

Kaiya looked down at the table, what was she supposed to say now? After telling Taro and her mother the whole story of the well, they hadn't said too much about it. Taro didn't seem to believe her, but her mother seemed in earnest to get her to promise to never go near the well again.

"Are you sure you didn't just hit your head or something?" Her elder brother asked her skeptically, watching her with a raised eyebrow.

Kaiya sighed, rubbing a thumb on the back of her left hand, "No… I'm sure… How else would I have gotten this necklace? And the clothing? And," She paused, not sure if she should add it in, "these - cuts?"

She pulled one of her arm's sleeves back, exposing the injuries from her trip through the well.

Her mother instantly stood up to get some gauze and medicine, while Taro's face just darkened. He looked into her face, light anger spread across it.

"Who knows, Yukio might have had something to do with those…"

His sister frowned. She knew he didn't approve of Yukio as her boyfriend, but he didn't always need to talk about him like that…

Her mother began to treat the cuts as she talked to Kaiya, "Oh, that reminds me. Yukio called, I think yesterday it was… Wanted you to call him back when you could."

"Ah, thank you Mama…" she said, her face heating up… _'At least he's able to talk… maybe things didn't go as badly as I thought…'_ She looked up to catch Taro's eyes, their gaze disapproving. 

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Kaiya checked the paper again, making sure she was heading the right way. When she had called Yukio back last night he hadn't talked very much, but she could sense the silent anger in his voice. He had given her directions to his apartment and basically ordered her to come over. She couldn't say no to him.

She was prepared to be yelled at, she understood where he was coming from (or, least she thought she did). It was her fault she hadn't met up with him those few nights ago to give him the money…

She paused when she saw a small apartment building, and checked to make sure it was the right one. She had actually never been to where Yukio lived, which some people might have found odd since he was her boyfriend, but she really didn't mind all too much. They met where they could, and that was good enough for her.

As she entered the building she winced at how trashy the place was, a putrid scent making her choke on air. Looking down at her feet she saw a half empty milk bottle, its contents obviously gone rancid some time ago. Covering her nose and mouth with a cupped hand she continued on down the hallway, climbing only one set of staircase until she knew she was on his floor.

The closer she knew she got to him however, the more her hands shook around the paper. She could feel tears building up behind her eyes as well. _'I got him into trouble… I know it… he's never told me where he lived before…'_

She stopped in front of a door with the number eleven scratched into the wood. She lifted her hand hesitantly before knocking. This was Yukio's room.

"It's open," a voice called from inside. That was Yukio. His voice sounded kind, almost gentle as he spoke. Kaiya blinked, wondering if maybe nothing had gone wrong. She probably just worried too much.

Much reassured, she turned the door knob and stepped in, blinking in confusion as to why there was no lights on in the room. She opened her mouth to question it aloud, but instead cried out in pain when something hard connected with her face, right over her right eye. She slid to her knees, covering her face with her hands as she felt her ears ringing and head throbbing.

"WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?!" He raged, the door slamming behind her.

"I - I'm sorry Yukio!" She sobbed out, not knowing what she could say to him. She couldn't tell him about the well… That just wouldn't work out…

"I never got the money to pay those guys! You wanna know what happened, _Kaiya_?!" He barked.

She couldn't respond, she couldn't find her voice. Her hands covered her tear covered eyes as she shook her head to herself, wondering how she had ever allowed this to happen…

Around her the room was suddenly illuminated as Yukio turned the lights on.

"Look at me! LOOK! Stop sobbing like a baby and look what you did to me!"

She removed her hands and slowly lifted her head from begin cradled above her lap. Yukio was glaring down at her, but across him were gashes and bruises. His lip was bloodied, one eye covered in black bruises (the over covered with a patch), with a green color tinting around his nose. His arms were bruised, and deep cuts were strewn on his hands… And that was only what wasn't covered up with bandages. Kaiya gasped back a sob as she stood to her feet shakily, reaching forward with a hand to touch his cheek tenderly, "I'm so sorry…"

Her hand was slapped away. "Damn Kaiya, you fucking moron! Don't expect me to just forgive you!" He shouted.

"I'm just so sorry… Please understand…"

"God damn! I don't even remember why the hell I called you out here!"

The girl blinked sadly up at him, wincing as she felt all too much the bruise beginning to form around her right eye from his punch.

"Get out, I don't even want to look at you."

"Yukio…"

"GET OUT!" He grabbed a half empty beer can and threw it at her. From such a close range it struck her cheek, the rest of the liquid streaming out to splash on her, leaving its bitter smell behind.

She hurried to the door, flying out just as another object was thrown at her. Slamming it behind her she ran to the steps, brushing away tears from her eyes. _'How could I have let that happen?'_ She sobbed to herself as she ran away from the building, mechanically sprinting back to her home.

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Kaiya touched the sharp cut under her right eye tenderly, flinching at the pain it caused. Her eye was beginning to become set in a dark circle, with a red crescent near the top of her cheek from where he threw the can. She had sneaked back into her home, taken another shower to get the smell of beer off her, and was presently examining her new injuries in the mirror. She sighed as more tears slipped from her eyes. She wouldn't be able to cover these up completely, but makeup would make them less noticeable at least.

As she entered her bedroom she stepped out of her clothes, not even noticing the protest her muscles gave her now. She was actually becoming used to it. Dressing into her cotton pajamas she brushed through her hair one last time before slipping under the covers of her bed.

For a while sleep could not take her. Her thoughts continued to pound through her head, and silent tears would not stop falling. Her pillow was in a death grip as she thought over the past days… Inuronin obviously hated her. Yukio didn't even want to look at her and had been hurt because of her. Taro was going off to war just like Papa, and she had lost her ring…

Her head ached, and for another hour she wouldn't sleep until finally her body was too exhausted to keep itself awake even under all the stress.

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Kaiya opened her eyes groggily in the morning, gasping in pain as her right eye gave protest. Resisting the urge to rub it she sat up and stretched the best she could.

Having taken yet another shower she floated mindlessly down the stairs and into the kitchen where she could hear her mother bustling about. She had needed to cake almost all of her makeup onto her face before the bruising wasn't nearly so visible, and she was actually rather proud of her handiwork as she slid into a chair at the table and just watched her mother.

"Good morning Kaiya… well, actually, good afternoon," she smiled at her daughter, "Sleep well?"

"Not really…" She mumbled in response.

Her mother sighed and sat down opposite from her at the table.

"Kaiya, honey, you're not keep something from us are you? Maybe about you and Yukio..?"

"You've been talking to Taro, haven't you?" She responded, almost bitterly.

"Yes, well… Not that I don't trust you… But your story is a bit, farfetched, sweetie…" Her mother reached out a hand and drew her fingers across Kaiya's forehead lightly, "You just have a habit of making me worry about you."

The girl relaxed at her mother's touch, "Yeah… Why _would_ anyone believe a story like that…?" She mumbled to herself, burying her face into her arms. Even though she had slept in so late, it just felt so hard to keep her eyes open…

"Honey, before you fall asleep again, why don't you go someplace a bit more comfortable?"

Kaiya nodded her head in response, forcing herself to stand and walk into the living room before collapsing onto the couch.

Her mother laughed softly to herself, though worry still filled her eyes.

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Kaiya woke to feeling her mother shaking her.

"Kaiya dear, there's someone here to see you…"

Yawning she rolled herself off the couch, biting her lip when she accidentally hit the sore area around her eye. Brushing her black hair behind her ears she worked her way over to the front door, slightly surprised to see Tori there with a wide smile plastered on her face.

"Hey Kaiya!" She squealed brightly before taking in her clothes, "Why are you still in your pajamas? Well… anyway… I was wondering if you wanted to come over for a bit?" She chirped, obviously unraveled by Kaiya's lack of proper dressings.

"Uh… sure?"

"GREAT!" Tori squeaked, "Um, why don't you get dressed? Then we can head over?" She suggested, mouth wide in a heart breaking smile as she tilted her head slightly to the side, ponytail flipping over her shoulder.

"Heh… yeah, just wait one moment, okay?" Kaiya said, scratching the back of her head.

"Sure thing!"

She winced at the volume of the girl's voice before heading to her room to change…

Some hours and about five cups of tea later, Kaiya continued to stare out the window in Tori's house. She had changed into a black skirt with a pale yellow t-shirt and navy jacket, having not really cared what she threw on. Honestly though, how long could this girl blabber on for? They were seated at a small table fixed on the wall in the girl's house which faced Kaiya's own home. As much as Tori was friendly, she could get awfully annoying with all this talking… She had tuned her out some time ago, when the girl had decided to start talking about some singer she had never heard of before in her life… Sighing she stirred her spoon in her tea cup, enjoying the aroma rising out of it. Her head was rested on her fisted left hand as she tried her best to appear interested in whatever this girl was going on about.

Dropping the spoon her right hand rose to finger the Shikon shard around her neck thoughtlessly. Realizing what she was doing she stared down at it, while pretending to nod at something Tori said.

"You did? I wonder what it was…"

Kaiya glanced up to see the girl suddenly peering out the window to Kaiya's own home.

Wondering what she was looking at she glanced out the window, only to see nothing.

"I'm sure I heard something…" There was a loud clatter suddenly erupting from Kaiya's house as Tori gasped, "You heard that too, didn't you?"

Kaiya nodded dumbly, standing herself to look out the window, the Shikon shard falling back under her shirt, forgotten.

She saw a flash of silver, and her heart picked up its beat. Heat flooded her cheeks before she tried to calm down. _'You're just going paranoid… there's no **way** he got here..!' _She saw it again however, this time seeing a glimpse of Inuronin running along the side of her house. __

"Oh gosh…" She whispered fervently to herself.

"Kaiya? Did you see that boy? You know him?"

"Uh - yeah, I do… You think we could do this another time?"

Without waiting for a response Kaiya rushed out of Tori's house, hoping to God Inuronin hadn't let himself be seen for what he was.

Reaching her front lawn area she looked around, wondering where he had gone, before she looked to her front door and saw it was open. Running up to it she jogged down the main hallway before turning the corner left into the living room, only to bump into something warm and solid.

"Ouch…" She whined softly, her right eye closing in pain for a moment before opening again in realization of what she had run into.

Inuronin was standing in the middle of the entryway into the living room, while Kaiya's mother stood in the room staring at him with a stunned expression on her face. Kaiya herself, of course, had run face first into his back.

The hanyou whipped around, looking down into her face as he sneered.

"Were you _ever_ planning on going back? What was going on that was so important you decide to spend three days here?"

"Hey… It was only, like, two days!" She sputtered in her defense.

"Kaiya… honey?" Her mother called softly from inside the room.

"And… how did you get through the well? I thought… I thought you needed a Shikon shard?" She questioned him, thoroughly confused.

He gave her a cocky grin, "Yeah, well, turns out I don't."

"Kaiya?" Her mother called, again.

"But… you're not expecting me to go back _now_ are you?"

"No, I'm not."

The girl sighed in relief.

"I'm _telling_ you to, there's a difference."

"Oh really?" Kaiya fumed, "And what would that be?"

"If I expected you to, that would make it sound like I was giving you a choice."

Kaiya's retort was cut off when her mother suddenly stepped in front of her.

"_Excuse_ me, but don't you have any manners? You can't just go barging into people's homes like this!"

Inuronin stared down at her, blinking while, apparently, he didn't take her seriously.

"Are you the young man from that well?"

When Inuronin didn't say anything Kaiya chose to respond, "Yes, Mama, this is Inuronin."

"Well, Inuronin, you can go on back home because Kaiya will not be going with you! I wouldn't be a good mother if I let her go back into such danger just like that!" The woman argued.

The hanyou sneered again, baring a fang when he pushed past her, grabbing Kaiya's arm tightly as he began to drag her to the front door behind him.

"Inuronin! You could show _some_ respect to my mother!" She hissed at him, trying fruitlessly to dig her feet into the wooden floorboards, her thick-heeled shoes not helping her much in that area.

He had almost gotten her to the front door when Taro suddenly stood in front of the hanyou, Kaiya's mother approaching from behind and taking Kaiya's free hand. Seeing the boy who stood about his height Inuronin snarled, pulling Kaiya close to his side, at the same time making her lose her mother's grip.

"Let go of Kaiya." Her brother ordered, eyes commanding as he stared into the golden ones of the hanyou's.

"And who are you to tell me what to do with her?" The white-haired boy snapped back, fangs bared.

Without waiting for a response Inuronin pushed past him, his grip on Kaiya's arm tightening as he, in one fluid motion, swept an arm behind her knees and lifted her off the ground. Protests were shouted by Taro and Kaiya's mother, but fell on deaf ears as Inuronin jumped higher than any human could ever do and was soon bounding out of sight.

Kaiya squirmed in his grasp, prying at his fingers that held her to his chest - his grip only tightened though.

"Inuronin! I can't _believe_ you just did that!"

"And why not?"

She chose not to respond, because, honestly, she didn't know how to. She continued to try and get him to relinquish his grasp on her for another minute or so, until finally she realized it just wasn't happening.

"Now my mother is never going to trust you! She'll probably never trust me either!"

And suddenly they were dropping back down through the well.

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The familiar darkness had swept around the both of them, until it was obvious they had reached Inuronin's side of it. In one leap he was over its rim and setting Kaiya down, brushing himself off as if her home had contaminated him.

"Keh! Your family's terrible!" He barked out, as if giving reason to what he just did, "This is where you belong now anyway…" He looked up to see Kaiya standing in front of him, her eyes were wild with emotion and she seemed to be fighting with herself, her bottom lip being chewed on in thought.

"What?" He asked her, ears swiveling to focus on her.

The girl drew back her hand in an instant and swung it, palm open, into the hardest slap she had ever given in her life. Every bit of anger she felt towards him she threw into that hit, and it felt good.

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Chapter End

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There ya go - chapter 8. Was a bit different than how I had it plotted out on paper… but feh, I liked it better this way. Wow.. I sure do make Kaiya go through some hard stuff.. Oo;; And it's only going to get worse… XD I feel evil… Oh well… that's the way life is ;;

Hrm.. See? You didn't have to wait long for another update this time … I'm not that evil of an author 24/7 Xx I felt really bad bout making you guys wait so long for chapter 7, so I worked my hiney off to go ahead and finish chapter 8 for everyone hoped you enjoy =D And if you did you can always leave a review lol.

Expect chapter 9 sometime not too far away =)

Also.. Sorry bout any poor editing… eh-heh… blushes ::.::


	9. The Hopeless Deaths

Disclaimer: Don't own Inuyasha.. Though I do technically own Inuronin and Kaiya..

AN - Chapter 9 is here for your enjoyment… Though this chapter is a bit darker than most previous… I'm really not sure how defines ratings, so I'm not sure if FGT's rating should be upped to 'R'.. If anyone reads this chapter, and thinks it should, _please_ let me know (or after reading any chapter for that matter)…

Hm.. Also changed this chapter's title at the last minute - the previous one wouldn't have made sense for what I fitted into Chapter 9, so it will have to come later… possibly… o.O;

* * *

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Fate Gave Three

By Areine

Chapter 9: The Hopeless Deaths

* * *

Inuronin lifted a hand, hovering it near his cheek in the silence that followed Kaiya's choice of action. She had just slapped him. This _girl_ had slapped him. He stared into the space above her head while the girl just choked on a sob and brought her hand to her face before turning to run away.

That brought him back to his senses.

His golden eyes focused in on her while a snarl left his lips, his hand snatching out to latch onto her wrist.

"Hold on a second!" He barked out.

Kaiya jerked on her arm, "Let go of me!" Like that ever got you anywhere.

"What the hell? You just slapped me!"

She glared up at him, no longer trying to pull from his grip, "So what? You've done a lot of mean stuff to me too!"

"Well don't fucking run from me! You don't just do that!" His molten eyes bore into hers, his grip on her wrist still not lessening its power.

"You ignore me all the time! Don't talk this is all _my_ fault!" The girl argued back with him, cheeks tinting red in her anger.

"Well who was that _boy_ anyway? Was _he_ the reason you didn't come back?" He growled, fangs bared back.

"Who- what?" She blinked up at him, "You mean Taro?"

"Oh, is that the bastard's name? So what, is little 'Taro' your _beloved _or something?" The hanyou sneered.

A blush crept up on Kaiya's cheeks, "Be- beloved? Taro is my brother!" She paused, raising her fingers to brush the skin around her right eye gently, "Plus… It's Yukio who's my boyfriend…"

"And what the hell does that mean?"

Kaiya looked up into Inuronin's face, lips set in a thin line with how frustrated she was with him. "It means we both _like_ each other, and we spend time together… It means we're… more than friends, but not going too far…"

"What, so you wear something that short for your 'boyfriend'?" Inuronin snorted in disgust, motioning to her skirt.

"Gah! YOU ARE IMPOSSIBLE!" She raged, jerking her arm out of his grip after he seemed to forget about his hold on it.

"And what the hell are _you_ so bitchy about?!" He retorted angrily, eyes flashing.

"YOU, idiot! Don't you realize I have a life besides being stuck back here with you in some fairy tale world?!" She cried out.

The hanyou's eyes calmed and all emotion left his face. The two ears perched aboard his cranium slackened their stiff posture as her words sank in.

For a moment, in Kaiya's eyes, the boy looked hurt.

Well, that ended quickly enough as he sneered again, but she was too mad to care at the moment anyway. She turned sharply on her heel and walked out of the clearing where just some time before she had killed a giant youkai. How interesting that she could blow up a giant spider but not Inuronin… Not that she actually _wanted_ to blow Inuronin up or anything…

She paused in her walk and slumped down to the ground on a small hill. The girl brought her hand to her forehead as she took deep breathes, regaining her calm from her argument with Inuronin just moments before. Kaiya felt like she didn't understand anything anymore, and everything was happening way too fast for her.

Why did it feel so hopelessly impossible to ever become friends with Inuronin? Every time she was with him it seemed like they argued, or she ended up crying- or just _something_ along those lines. As she sat still, pitying herself for getting into this mess, she questioned how her relationship with Inuronin was any different than hers and Yukio's, and _he_ was supposed to be her boyfriend. When she was with Yukio she worried about covering up bruises, getting involved with gangs, and who would want to think of what else… _'Oh come on! Yukio is your boyfriend… It's not like you would rather spend time with Inuronin than with Yukio.'_

She paused, touching the bruises along her right eye tenderly. _'At least Inuronin doesn't hurt me so much… physically at least.'_ She sighed, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear slowly, _'But what's to say he won't with the way you keep arguing with him? And- and you **slapped** him!'_ She let out a groan. How could she face him again? She shook her head to herself, better not think about that.

Leaning her head back she let the sun bathe her face as she relaxed her body. There were so many things that went on that didn't make sense. _'Like the time Inuronin's father showed up.._' Her eyes shut as she remembered that time. What she didn't get was how, somehow, she had sensed that they were never actually in a forest when they had been traveling. That wouldn't have fit with the fact that it had been cold out there… It was like a mirage someone had made, just so they would _think_ they were heading in the right direction… But why would anyone do that? Why would someone cover up the land with illusion, to send them into that Youkai Lord's territory?

Kaiya sighed, more puzzled than ever. Lifting her right hand she fingered the Shikon shard around her neck idly. That was another thing. If the Shikon no Tama was so powerful, why didn't anyone come after her shard? If what Inuronin had said was true, than Naraku had purposefully chipped this piece off of the jewel, but why hadn't he come back for it? Wouldn't having the full jewel be more powerful than a broken one?

Her thoughts were disrupted by a soft spot of pale yellow at the side of her range of vision. Turning quickly she looked down to find a small, kitten-like animal near her feet. The cat was so small it would easily fit in her hand, but there were some odd things about it. Well, really only one odd thing, and that was it had more than one tail and red eyes.

'But it's adorably cute..' Kaiya reasoned to herself, extending a hand quietly to let it sniff at her. _'And the way it looks at me… I think I'm going crazy, but I feel like it knows me somehow already. This land is pretty weird already…'_

The kitten sniffed at her hand for a bit, studying her face the whole time. After some moments it seemed to come to a conclusion about something, and mewed gently to her. Padding forward it brushed its cheek against Kaiya's leg, a soft thrumming coming from its chest. Its fur was surprisingly soft, like alpaca wool, but with a silky tendency. She couldn't help it as a soft smile touched her lips. The kit's wheat-colored fur was tipped with black points, and while the animal's eyes were red she wasn't afraid.

'I wonder if this is another type of youkai… I should probably be more cautious- but still, I feel like inside I know it wouldn't do anything…'

Suddenly, the kit's eyes traveled somewhere past Kaiya's head, its fur standing on end as a growling vibration traveled through its body. The teenager turned her head around, but saw nothing. Nerves on end, she stood slowly, looking off in the direction the kit did.

"What is it?" She asked softly, looking back down to the kitten.

A chilling breeze blew through the area, sending shivers up Kaiya's spine. Shaking it off the girl turned in the direction she knew Ami's village was in.

"I shouldn't stay out here…" She murmured to herself. Looking down in hopes of taking the kit with her she was surprised to find it had disappeared. She sighed, slightly downhearted that it had run off. _'I suppose it can take care of itself… Maybe it has a family somewhere.'_

After waiting a few more moments to see if it would come back, and then seeing it wasn't, Kaiya walked off.

* * *

"Ami?" Kaiya called, pushing the rice paper door to the miko's home the side some so she could peek her head in.

"Kaiya, child? What are you doing here?"

The girl jumped and turned around, finding the elderly woman to be standing right behind her.

"Oh… um… well, that's sort of what I wanted to talk to you about."

Ami arched an eyebrow, blue eyes focused on Kaiya as she nodded. "Go in, let us sit while we talk."

When they were both settled sitting across from one another Ami folded her hands into her lap, "What is it, child? I must say I am surprised to see you back so soon."

For some reason which Kaiya was not sure of, a blush rose up through her cheeks, "Uh… It turns out Inuronin can travel to my world through the well."

"Ah - I expected that to be the case." Ami nodded sagely.

Kaiya just blanched. "Eh? But… I mean," she poked the ends of her two pointer fingers together, nervousness wracking through her body, "I thought you said that someone would need the power of a Shikon shard to travel through the well?"

"The well is… complicated. It was also in the past, that the hanyou Inuyasha was able to travel through the well without using the power of a shard, but that Kagome needed it. I really cannot say exactly the boundaries of traveling through the well, so I don't know if I can help you understand it further. Perhaps the more we time we spend using it the more we can learn."

"But… how am I ever supposed to spend time at home if Inuronin can just travel through the well and pluck me off anytime he wants? I mean, what did Kagome do?" Kaiya paused, "Didn't you say before that you remember some of the arguments they had?"

Ami closed her eyes for a moment, "You must remember, child, that many of these conversations we had in the past I was still under control of a youkai."

"Oh, of course…" Kaiya sighed, "So, you really don't know?"

She shook her head, azure eyes opening once more. "I do not remember much of their talk between one another, but many ended because of a certain magical necklace the hanyou Inuyasha wore."

"A magical necklace?" Kaiya raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, I believe when they first met, and Kagome was in possession of the Shikon no Tama, Inuyasha attacked her to take it. However, the priestess of the village at that time, Kaede, was able to magically string a rosary around his neck. The next word of subduing Kagome spoke to the hanyou was able to throw him to the ground and stun him for a few moments."

"What was the subduing word she used?" She pondered.

"Osuwari." _(an1)_

Kaiya paused for a moment before giggling, "And she was able to get home just by saying that?"

"Yes, I believe she was." Ami confirmed.

Silence ensued for a few moments as Kaiya remained in thought before coming to a decision.

"Ami… Do you think… Would you be able to get one of those rosaries on Inuronin? And then my command could be something like… 'Let me go home'?" She questioned.

The elder chuckled, "I could, perhaps, if you feel you need it this badly. However, if I did, it would be a permanent thing. He would never be able to take it off except by an outside force using very strong magic..."

"Oh… I didn't know… I suppose I could see how it goes a bit longer…" She admitted.

Ami nodded, "I think that would be best.."

* * *

Kaiya lifted a hand to her mouth as she yawned and continued following after Inuronin, who was just some paces ahead of her. They were off to find this 'Myouga' person, while this time Kaiya had stubbornly insisted on not bringing a horse. _'Not after Ken died…'_ She reminded herself.

Conversation, as usual, had been limited between the two, but this time Kaiya was not trying to push it. Better silence than yelling, she had decided first thing. _'Especially not after you slapped him… You just **had** to slap a half-youkai..?' _She groaned inwardly.

The Tetsusaiga was once again tied to her waist, and she couldn't help but feel like a luggage carrier to the boy in front of her. Ami had supplied her with bow and arrows, but she was quite nervous to wondering if she would ever actually need to use them, would she even be able to hit anything? She had never really used them before, and Ami's instruction in them had been very quick…

Lifting her hand again she yawned once more, only to bump straight into Inuronin. Accidentally bumping the bruises beneath her right eye she yelped in pain as he furrowed his brow. For some reason he had stopped walking and was now looking down at her.

"What's wrong with your eye?" He questioned, golden eyes framed with white hair really the only thing she could make out in the dark.

She shifted her gaze to meet his, eyes widening slightly to be reminded once more of the boy's father. _'In this light… he looks so much like him… except for those markings on his father's face…'_ Her gaze traveled up to his ears, _'And those, of course.'_

She whipped her head away as she felt Inuronin press a finger underneath her sore eye.

"Don't do that!" She snapped, wincing her eye shut at the pain.

"What the hell? What's on your skin?" The hanyou barked straight back.

She looked over to him to see that he had wiped some of her make-up off her of bruises. "It's called concealer you jerk!"

He looked back at her with a retort on his tongue, but held it back, studying the now dark-patch under her eye. "What the fuck? You covered up bruises with this crap?"

"That's none of your business…" She hissed.

"Well when the hell did your eye get all busted up?!"

"I _said_ that's none of your business!"

She turned to continue walking the way they had been going until that point, but Inuronin grabbed her arm, "Who _hurt_ you, Kaiya?"

She looked back to him, ready to argue again, but stopped. He looked so regal, standing there, golden eyes looking down into her own, and his tone was serious for once. She almost told him, just because he looked so serious, but a great wind suddenly swept through the forest, and the serenity of the moment was lost as Inuronin pushed the girl behind him.

"Dammit…" He snarled.

"Hello there." A voice drifted across the darkness.

Kaiya stepped forward to see who spoke, but Inuronin only pushed her back more. Disgruntled, she peered around his arm to see a thin, hooded figure hovering in the air some yards away from them.

"What the hell do you want?" Inuronin snarled in response.

"Only the Shikon shard around that girl's neck," the being chuckled, eyes glowing from underneath its hood.

"And you're a dumb ass if you think I'm just going to give it to you." The hanyou threatened.

"Oh, of course I knew you wouldn't be smart about this," the reply came from the dark form.

"So, what? Did Naraku send you?" Inuronin spat bitterly.

"Lord Naraku?" The voice hissed, "Even that youkai does not have power over the dead!"

Kaiya let out a soft gasp, eyes wide, "Is he already dead..?" She questioned softly.

Inuronin bared his fangs, clenching his clawed fingers together as he prepared to spring for an attack.

"Strike me, I never have been one to like making the first move." The form beckoned.

"My _pleasure_!" Inuronin cried, leaping forward as he outstretched his claws, eyes narrowed as with one great sweep of his arm his claws went through his enemy. Landing he turned around, "What the _hell_? Why can't I touch you?!" He yelled angrily, knowing full well he had just gone through his enemy as if he was nothing but air.

Cold laughter erupted from underneath the hood as the being let out its amusement, "You cannot even _touch_ one using the powers of necromancy…" He retorted "It is their 'pet' you must kill first," the man responded fondly.

Inuronin cursed under his breath, "Yeah, well, where the hell is this 'pet' of yours?"

A deep chuckle came from the figure, "With that human of yours."

The hanyou whirled around to find Kaiya wasn't where she had stood just moments before. Instead, a large figure reeking of death and clad in dark crimson armor was crushing her against a tree with one of its hands around her neck. The girl's eyes were flinching with pain as she grimaced and struggled in its grasp, prying at its fingers around her neck, her feet not even touching the ground as she was held against a truck of the tree.

Inuronin began to rush to her, but soon found he could not move. "What the - _Bastard_! Get your hands _off _of her!" He ground his teeth together angrily, "And why the **hell** can't I move?!"

"Tsk tsk, so impatient, boy." The necromancer slid through the air to stand beside the paralyzed hanyou.

"While my servant here takes care of that girl and her Shikon shard, I'll hold off on killing you for just a bit. I really am a bit of a sadist you know, and I'd like you to watch her death with me."

Inuronin bid his whole soul to move his body, but the necromancer's spell held strong. His breathing grew ragged as he exerted all the strength in his body to break through the magic, but the spell still held.

"Damn fuck it all.." He barked savagely, a feral aura building around him.

* * *

Kaiya's breathing was lessening as the range of her vision began to shrink. Rasping for air when she could was the only thing she could do. Lifting her hands in one final attempt to save herself she pushed her hands through the opening of the beast's helm and scratched at whatever she felt in there. A heat pulsed through her, but this time she recognized the flow of power as pink light flashed from inside the demonic soldier's helm and its scream of rage broke through the forest. It released its hold on her and dropped her instantly to the ground as it punched the tree straight through in rage and pain.

The necromancer snarled from where he watched, "How in hell is this girl a miko?! Every woman of miko blood was… _is_ supposed to be killed by Naraku the moment they're born!" Words from a different language began to pour from the hooded creature's mouth as he faced Kaiya on the ground. Streams of glowing blue light slowly began to whirl around the girl as she soon found the world was becoming invisible to her.

Standing shakily to her feet she cautiously touched the blue light, only to have nothing happen. She looked beyond the light and into the forest once more, but everyone was gone. Kaiya felt fear rising in her as she circled around. _'What happened to Inuronin and the shaded man? Why... why am I alone?'_

The feeling she was being punched suddenly took hold as a force hit her stomach with tremendous strength. Losing what breath she had Kaiya crumpled to the ground, arms clutching her stomach painfully as a sob choked through her lungs. _'What's going on?'_ She cried out in her mind.

* * *

Inuronin watched as the necromancer's servant punched Kaiya straight in the stomach, snarling as she crumpled to the ground, "What the hell is that blue shit around her?! Fight _me_ you bastard!"

"The spell, it blinds her to us. At this moment she thinks she is alone in this forest, she can't even see what's hitting her nor hear us - not very easy for her to use those miko powers of hers, is it?" The shade humored to himself.

"You fucking _BASTARD_! Leave _her_ the hell alone and fight _me_!" He cried savagely.

* * *

Kaiya glanced down at her side as the Tetsusaiga pulsed. Still clutching her stomach with one arm she pushed herself up with the other. Panting for breath she wondered what was making the sword pulse all of a sudden, until suddenly a crushing force hit the small of her back, sending her crashing to the ground once more. Gasping in pain she pushed herself to stand, looking around once more. _'Why can't I see whatever is hitting me? And… and why did Inuronin leave me again? What's going **on**?!'_

Backing away from the area she put her back to a tree, catching her breath as the blue lights continued to swirl around her, the Tetsusaiga still throbbing at her side, and a sudden heat seemed to actually be burning through the rope…

Ignoring the sword though, it reminded her of her own weapon. Taking the wooden bow from her back, and drawing an arrow as Ami had instructed she looked to the area where she had been hit. If she could just shoot in that general direction… Lifting the bow and arrow she began to draw the string back, when suddenly it seemed the same force kicked her legs out from underneath her, forcing her to accidentally release her arrow straight into the forest's canopy. Ignoring the pain her body was feeling she quickly drew another arrow and turned on the ground to face where the force had struck its most recent blow from. Quickly aiming she released the arrow straight ahead of her.

Suddenly, she found the blue, streaming lights around her to have disappeared. Inuronin was back in the same spot he had been earlier, apparently still paralyzed by whatever spell the necromancer had put on him. She looked to find the necromancer's pet standing right where she had shot her arrow, and while she was not completely surprised she had actually hit it, she was surprised to find her arrow was glowing brilliantly with the same pink light she had seen so many times omitted from her very hands.

The pet, with the light from Kaiya's arrow engulfing him, was soon dissolved with an ear-shattering howl.

The girl dropped her bow, a hand to her heart as she winced at the pain her body was in. She glanced over to Inuronin, where she saw an ethereal light glowing from him - he was still spellbound with the enemy's magic.

"You seem to be forgetting this is not over, miko."

Kaiya's eyes widened as she looked up to find the necromancer standing just beside her. Picking up her bow she drew another arrow as she aimed it to the cloaked man's heart. The necromancer reached out a frail-looking hand from inside his sleeve, touching the tip of the arrow lightly with a finger before she fired it. The girl cried out in pain as a freezing cold wracked through the bow and arrow and into her body as she succumbed to the pain in a fit of shivering. The hooded figure knelt beside her, reaching out his hand once more as he touched the girl's forehead, increasing her pain further. She never noticed that the heat the Tetsusaiga was producing burned through the rope which connected it to her side.

* * *

Inuronin watched in rage as the necromancer touched Kaiya, but slowly the spell over his body ebbed away, and he forced his limbs to take slow steps forward as the immobility on him dissipated. _'I'm going to slash his throat open then rip his lungs out through the opening…'_ He growled tersely to himself.

There was suddenly a crackling sound coming from Kaiya as a solid object hit Inuronin's hand soon after. Glancing down he found the Tetsusaiga, still knotted with now-burnt rope, in his hand. "What the hell..?" The rusted sword sat lightly in his hand, and even when he released his grip on it the sword remained in his palm. Another cry from Kaiya and he snarled savagely, not even thinking about what he was doing as he leapt forward. The Tetsusaiga thrummed against his hand with an odd metallic tune as suddenly a flash of light bounced off the sword, and suddenly it was not the sword it was before. The rusted piece of metal the hanyou had just been holding was now double its length, three times its width and sharp as his claws.

He gripped the sword tightly as he swung it down straight onto the necromancer's arm, cutting off the hand with which he kept spell-binding Kaiya neatly. The Tetsusaiga hit the ground with a sharp thud as Inuronin caught his breath and stared at it in wonder.

From the side the hooded man clutched his decapitated wrist to his chest, "The… Tetsusaiga?!" He croaked angrily.

* * *

Kaiya sat up dizzily, her eyes fluttering open to find a gigantic sword now separating her from the necromancer. She gasped as she looked to find Inuronin the one wielding it. "Inuronin…" She whispered in amazement.

Silence went through the air as no one moved, though a growl was now rumbling from the hanyou's chest as his grip on the Tetsusaiga tightened. "What the fuck?! Why the hell is this thing so god damn _heavy_?!"

Kaiya's eyes widened as she looked up to his face, "Wha-? You just used it! How can it be that heavy?"

"Well I wasn't _thinking_ about its weight earlier, I was too fuckin pissed off!" The hanyou snarled.

The girl's attention flipped back to the necromancer as she noticed he had backed off some, now muttering incantations under his breath. His form began to weaken again, and she realized he was calling for another pet. "Not this time…" She drew another arrow and stood quickly, aiming straight for his heart. Releasing it she watched hopelessly as he quickly soared out of its reach.

"Too late girl," he said smugly. "But, I am sad to say we cannot finish this now." He took a bow as he hovered in the air, "This really is most interesting…"

The man disappeared just like that. Kaiya lowered her bow, "What did he-" She stopped mid sentence as suddenly her mind flared with a horrible pain. Dropping to her knees she covered her ears with her hands as she winced, suddenly seeing images flashing behind her closed eyelids.

* * *

A young boy, looking around the age of eight or so, rubbed the back of his grimy hand against his eyes as he tried to wipe away his tears. A soft hiccup came from him as he let out a distressed whine. "I want Mama..!" He sobbed, now wiping his nose. Shoulders shaking, he slumped down beneath a tree as he buried his head in his arms and cried.

The vision blinked, and suddenly Kaiya realized she was looking down at the boy. Surprised, she whirled around to find she was in the same area she had been in with Inuronin just a moment ago… Was this a dream? Looking down to the boy she crouched, "Hey there… are you lost?" She asked him.

The boy continued to sob into his arms, apparently having not heard her. Reaching out a hand to touch his shoulder, she jerked it back when she saw her fingers go straight through his body…

"This… is a vision or something?" She whispered to herself, "It has to be…"

Standing back up she ran a hand through her hair as she circled around, wondering how to get out of this. She stopped moving as the sudden creaking of a branch brought her attention to the forest canopy. There was a dark aura she could sense, but without good lighting she couldn't see anything.

Something flashed through her mind though as she turned back to the boy, "Run!" Scrambling over to him she paused when he looked up at her - eyes wide with fear. He.. actually heard her? Why had she said that anyway? Was he in danger?

The boy's emotion choked voice suddenly ripped through the forest with a scream as a great, mutated bird suddenly swooped down, flying straight through Kaiya as it landed with a sickening thud on the child, being at least three times his size. Kaiya's eyes widened in fright and repulsion as she heard the ripping of cloth, and the boy's cries soon dying down to just the bird youkai feeding on its kill.

Turning away she covered her eyes with her hands, desperately trying to ignore the sounds of the great bird behind her.

The noises around her died by the time she next opened her eyes. This time it was daylight, sunlight streaming through the tree's leaves as it hit a path on the ground. Kaiya looked at in with wonder, 'Since when was there a path on the ground?' Looking behind her she shuddered as she saw the same tree the boy from earlier had been attacked under, and she quickly looked away before sadness flooded through her.

Her attention was now dragged down the path as she suddenly noticed a young woman traveling down the clearing, a basket of herbs in her hands. A thoughtful look was on her face as she kept her eyes on the ground, yet even though dirt was smudged across her face from a day's hard work, she still held youthful beauty.

Kaiya instantly felt a strange liking for the woman as a flicker of excitement crossed over the traveler's face and she crouched down, gently uprooting a small plant she had noticed with careful eyes growing at the roots of a tree.

"Hey hey! Aren't you a beautiful girl?"

Both Kaiya's and the woman's attention were drawn to the side of the path as a few men suddenly stepped into the light. The woman instantly stood straight, holding the basket of herbs with tight fingers, her knuckles visibly turning white.

"Good morning, Sirs." She said politely, bowing, with just a hint or irritation to her voice.

"Well that wasn't much of a greeting, girl. What, you too good to stop and have some nice conversation with some lonely men?" A few chuckles came from behind the obvious 'leader' of the group as they took some steps closer to the girl.

The woman's eyes widened a fraction as she realized where this could be heading, "I'm sorry, but I am quite busy at the moment, perhaps you would like to stop by my father's inn later for some rest?" Trying to end the conversation she bowed once more and turned, walking stiff-legged back in the direction she had come from.

The men would not be so easily put-off though, as one grabbed her arm roughly, swinging her back around to bump into his chest, her basket of plants falling to the ground and spilling its contents. She jerked against his grasp angrily, "Excuse me? Kindly **remove** your hands, Sir."

The man bent his mouth towards her neck as she tried to shrink away, "Your breath reeks of sake…"(an2)_ She exclaimed bitterly. Kaiya could not see what happened from where she stood, or what else had been said, but suddenly the woman's eyes widened and she clenched a fist tightly before bringing it up into the man's gut with all the strength she had. He let go of her immediately, clutching his stomach as he muttered curses under his breath._

Suddenly the rest of the men, four in total, were on her as they pulled her hair from its bun savagely and ripped her clothing. Kaiya rushed forward, anger filling her as she prepared to help the woman, only to realize once again that her body went straight through the people. Clutching her hand back to her chest her eyes widened as she realized she could not help. The woman was kicking, scratching, doing whatever she could but the men only laughed and continued. Burying her face in her hands Kaiya jogged off behind a tree, drowning out the sounds of the assault behind her with her tears.

The woman was being raped and she could do nothing to help.

She wasn't sure how long she had been crying, but when she forced herself to stop she heard nothing around her. Standing shakily, her eyes red from crying, she walked back to the path, only to have her stomach roll painfully at the sight in front of her. The woman, naked, her body covered in bruises, was not breathing as blood seeped into the ground around her from a deep stab-wound in her throat. Her long, black hair was undone and strewn around her, her skin paling with death as the minutes passed.

Fresh tears came to Kaiya's eyes, bile rising in her throat as she turned, eyes stinging as her stomach tried to empty itself. Being already empty though, nothing came up through her throat, and soon, she was just back on the ground weeping, rocking herself as she felt such an immense aching in her heart for the woman…

Her senses though, now open to everything around her, were suddenly jerked away from her…

* * *

"_Human_! Wake up!!"

Kaiya felt strong hands shaking her. Struggling against them tears continued to fall from her eyes as she swayed herself back and forth on the ground, trying to release some of the pain in her heart by way of her sobs. Gasping with the aching pain she opened her eyes to find golden ones staring right back into hers. _'Inuronin…'_

"I'm so _sorry_… I couldn't help her _or_ the boy…" Her voice was soon blanketed with silence as she slumped forward against his chest, her mind aching with dizziness as she continued to cry into his chest. What had she just seen? Why was _she _suddenly seeing visions about people's deaths… and why did it have to hurt so much?

* * *

Chapter End

* * *

an1 : osuwari - "sit" in Japanese. I didn't put it in English though, because in Japanese, you would only say "osuwari" to a _dog_, as there is a whole other word for commanding actual _people_ to sit.

an2 : sake - popular drink in Japan, think of it just as an alcoholic beverage

AN - Thoughts, please? Should this story's rating be upped to 'R' or is it fine where it is for the moment? I do believe this is the worst it's going to get… But I can't say that 100% knowingly… Oh well… Hope it was alright… The next chapter should be a bit more light-hearted … ¬¬;

And… _wow_.. You guys really have no idea how much I edited this chapter XD It was supposed to have been out days earlier.. -- gomen.. There's probably still a whole mess load of typos though.. I'll have to go back through it again later =/

Edit-(( lol - was right, thanks Sharibet for pointing me in the direction of an error =) ))

Review? ..o.O


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